"Let's be serious," Ben Stiller said at the start of his question-and-answer session with the Class of 2005 Monday night.
Of course, the event was anything but, as the star of "Meet the Parents," "There's Something About Mary," and "Dodgeball" entertained a packed Richardson Auditorium with antics from a Tom Cruise imitation to an impersonation of the "Zoolander" male model Blue Steel.
The show, which lasted just over an hour, began with 2005 class officers introducing Stiller and rattling off a list of his memorable and not-so-memorable films. "Zoolander" and "Meet the Parents" received loud cheers while the response for "Along Came Polly" was less enthusiastic.
Later, in a question-and-answer session moderated by English professor Benjamin Widiss, Stiller acknowledged that some movies are more miss than hit. When asked by Widiss, "Are there any topics that don't prove to be funny?" Stiller responded, "Apparently, 'Along Came Polly.'"
It was a different story, though, for "Zoolander," which students repeatedly applauded and cheered. Stiller even appeared slightly surprised by the audience's response to the movie that was neither a hit at the box office nor a favorite of the critics.
"It was a really hard movie to get made," Stiller said. "The whole lesson of that movie is sticking with something you believe is funny."
Stiller had similar advice for the soon-departing Class of 2005. "Stick to your guns and do what you want to do," he said.
Christine Taylor, Stiller's wife and star of "The Brady Bunch Movie" and "Zoolander," was also in attendance. After answering a few questions from the audience, the pregnant Taylor drew laughs and cheers for performing a few lines from her role as Marcia Brady.
Stiller fielded questions from Widiss and students which ranged from the academic ("Do you prepare for a serious role in a different way from a comedic role?), to the romantic ("How did you propose to Christine?") to the wishful ("So, you want to hang out later, or ... ?").
Though he said he is currently content with comedic roles, Stiller did not rule out the possibility of a shift to darker material in the future. "If the right role comes along and it's serious, I'd definitely do it," he said.
Stiller is currently appearing in the New York play "This is How it Goes" and will soon lend his voice to the DreamWorks animated feature "Madagascar."
After that movie, he said, "I don't know what I'm going to do except hang out and watch Christine have a baby."
During the drive to campus, Stiller said, he fantasized about his young daughter one day attending Princeton.
"If I could have done one thing differently, I honestly would have stayed in college and not quit," Stiller said.
Later, he got his wish as he was inducted as an honorary member of the Class of 2005.
"I knew this would happen someday," he said.
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