14 DAY TRIAL // Ben Stiller wrote, directed and starred in the comedy “Zoolander” and, though it was a hit with fans, it didn’t really strike a chord with esteemed film critic Roger Ebert, who passed away this month. However, Stiller isn’t holding a grudge.
In a new interview cited by Contact Music, he says Ebert eventually apologized for him for the scathing review, which branded the comedy “offensive” and “tasteless.”
“(The review) seemed rather harsh to me,” Stiller says.
“To his credit, I ran into him like five or six years later backstage at The Tonight Show, and he said, ‘Hey, I just want to apologise to you. I wrote that about Zoolander, and I (now) think it's really funny. Everything was a little crazy (back then). It was September 11 and I went overboard.’ Thanks for telling me backstage at The Tonight Show!” he adds.
He also says that he’s not really the type of actor who pays too much attention to critic reviews, be they good or bad because, if he did, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself thinking they didn’t like him.