By Seems every time Ben Stiller is out promoting something, someone will ask him about his beloved yet controversial 2008 action-comedy “Tropic Thunder”.
Stiller helmed the R-rated film from a script he wrote with Justin Theroux and Ethan Cohen. The story followed the misadventures of a group of narcissistic actors who accidentally find themselves battling a heroin cartel whilst making a Vietnam War film.
The satire features over-the-top characters in silly situations and sends up actors desperate to win awards – resulting in Robert Downey Jr. being in blackface for much of the film. Downey ended up receiving an Oscar nomination for his role in the film and Stiller reportedly received positive feedback from the NAACP.
Society has changed a lot since then and the film these days is often discussed as one of those movies that could never be made today. In a recent interview with Collider, Stiller agrees:
“I doubt it [would be made today]. Obviously, in this environment, edgier comedy is just harder to do. Definitely not at the scale we made it at, too, in terms of the economics of the business.
I think even at the time we were fortunate to get it made, and I credit that, actually, to Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks. He read it and was like, ‘Alright, let’s make this thing.’ It’s a very inside movie when you think about it.
But yeah, the idea of Robert playing that character who’s playing an African American character, I mean, incredibly dicey. Even at the time, of course, it was dicey too.
The only reason we attempted it was I felt like the joke was very clear in terms of who that joke was on – actors trying to do anything to win awards. But now, in this environment, I don’t even know if I would have ventured to do it, to tell you the truth. I’m being honest.”
Stiller is back in the directing chair with a new season of “Severance” arriving on January 17th on the Apple TV+ service.
The post Stiller: “Tropic Thunder” Wouldn’t Be Made Today appeared first on Dark Horizons.
