In their heyday, before they morphed into just another statistic amidst the endless reruns of Ridiculousness, the MTV Movie Awards were a quaint yet spirited television spectacle. Amalgamating the quirky charm of basic cable with the audacity to empower viewers with a voice in determining the winners, the awards show often defied prediction and entertained with delightful spontaneity, offering comedians not only a stage to be themselves but also an access pass to rub shoulders with Hollywood's elite. Ben Stiller, who helmed the 1996 ceremony where Seven scooped the Best Picture award and Wes Anderson was honored as Best New Filmmaker for Bottle Rocket, became a staple with his sketches, designed to disarm the star-studded audience with humor. Two of his most indelible moments were at the expense of Hollywood's most influential figures.
Stiller's award show personas have a tendency to leave a cultural impression far more profound than anticipated. His infamous creation of Derek Zoolander for the 1996 VH1 Fashion Awards stands testament to this. While reminiscing about his MTV Movie Awards escapades with Seth Rogen on a recent episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Stiller recounted his stint as Tom Cruise's stunt double during the 2000 ceremony. Josh Horowitz, the podcast's host, inquired about the daunting task of mimicking Cruise's laugh mere inches from his face. Yet, Stiller didn't recall any traces of anxiety. "It just happened in the spur of the moment. He was laughing, and then I joined in, escalating our laughter in tandem. He embraced it wholeheartedly," Stiller recounted. However, while Stiller cut his honeymoon short to utter the iconic line, "This mission just got a hell of a lot more impossibler," in the presence of John Woo and Tom Cruise, he admitted that another movie award sketch he undertook was even more daunting.
"You also pulled off an epic bit where you pitched Titanic 2 to James Cameron," Rogen remarked.
