Ben Stiller felt the timing was perfect to return to Meet the Parents
The 59-year-old actor is set to reprise his role as Greg Focker in a fourth installment of the comedy series and explained that it felt appropriate to make another film as he is the same age as co-star Robert De Niro was when the original flick was released in 2000.
Speaking at a recent 25th anniversary screening of Meet the Parents, Ben explained: "I think what spurred the idea was that at this point in time, I'm the age that Bob (De Niro) was when we did the first movie.
"And there was this sort of mirror to the first film in terms of the fact that my kids are grown. And, yeah, that my kid, one of my kids, is thinking about introducing his person to the family."
The Night at the Museum star is excited to return to the franchise for the first time in over 15 years on the fourth film – which is slated for release in November 2026 and will feature Ariana Grande and the returning Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner and Teri Polo in the cast.
Stiller said: "It's exciting that we're going to do it again and be together.
"And I think life informs everything that's happened in the last 25 years, and it's been a while since we did the last one... So, it's kind of great to look at it as a sort of new thing. But of course, there's all these great memories, and I feel like our connections are still there when we get back together. It's just all baked in there."
De Niro states that the script for Meet the Parents 4 is "really good" and recalled how he pushed for the movie to be made when the third film Little Fockers, released in 2010, was in production.
The 81-year-old star said: "When we filmed the last one, I was with Ben and John (Hamburg, who co-wrote the three previous movies in the franchise and is set to direct the fourth) in my camper.
"And I said, 'Let's start writing one now, to be ready for another one.' And they said, 'Yeah, yeah, sure, sure, sure.' They were humouring me."
Meanwhile, Stiller believes that the "connection" that the audience has to the characters will be beneficial for the upcoming flick.
He said: "The audience has this history with the characters and they're going to bring that to the film too. So, there's something that's kind of emotional about it, I think, for me, for the actors, to the connection that people have with the movie."
The Severance star previously recalled how he was "very nervous" to be working with De Niro on the original film.
Stiller said: "Any actor my generation growing up, De Niro is the guy. And I was very nervous the first day. It was good because my character had to be nervous around him, so I didn't have to act that much. But the first moment we had together, he did something. It was the scene where we were meeting at the door and he did something funny, and I just cracked up in his face.
"I just laughed. I lost total character and just, it looked so unprofessional. It was awful. I was so nervous, I think but then he laughed and I was like, 'Oh, it's gonna be okay.'
"But now, I'm still incredibly intimidated by him 25 years later. He's also the sweetest guy in the world but when he gets mad, it's like you're in Goodfellas or something. It really is. It's great."
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