Ben Stiller Can Shred (sort of)
In The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Ben Stiller plays a mild-mannered desk lackey who finds himself on a quest around the world. At one point, the adventure sends him careening down a mountain on a skateboard. Stiller (who also directed the film) says yes, he took on the stunt himself.
Stiller relied on a lone safety wire, in case the whole operation went south. “It happened a couple of times,” he tells Kurt Andersen. “I was pulled up off the skateboard and dangling like a marionette going 40 miles an hour.”
He’s no Tony Hawk, but this wasn’t Stiller’s first time on a skateboard. “I grew up in New York and skateboarded as a kid,” he says. “I can’t really do tricks or anything, but I’ve always been comfortable on a board and I still love them.”
Listen to a bit of their conversation above — we’ll broadcast more in January. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty opens on Christmas Day.
The World is an independent newsroom. We’re not funded by billionaires; instead, we rely on readers and listeners like you. As a listener, you’re a crucial part of our team and our global community. Your support is vital to running our nonprofit newsroom, and we can’t do this work without you. Will you support The World with a gift today? Donations made between now and Dec. 31 will be matched 1:1. Thanks for investing in our work!