Movies

Ben Stiller tells Kevin Hart he'd 'love to find a comedy' to make his return to acting

And Hart would love to work on something together.

Published on April 28, 2022 06:23PM EDT

Have you missed seeing Ben Stiller on screen? So has Ben Stiller.

The multihyphenate actor has mostly stayed behind the camera in recent years, working as a producer and director on such projects as Showtime's Escape at Dannemora and Apple's recent hit Severance. But that doesn't mean he's done with acting: On Wednesday's episode of Kevin Hart's SiriusXM show Comedy Gold Minds, Stiller told his fellow comedian that he would "love to figure out" a project that would let him act again.

"I'd love to find a comedy," he said. "It's just weird because I never thought I'd go this long not acting. Like I just thought, 'Oh wow. I never thought I'd spend this much time away.'"

While Stiller has made cameo appearances in a handful of recent projects, including 2020's Adam Sandler comedy Hubie Halloween and 2021's pandemic-themed caper Locked Down, he has not had a substantial role in a movie since Noah Baumbach's The Meyerowitz Stories in 2017.

He added, however, that his time away from acting has given him a new appreciation for the craft: "I think I appreciate acting more as a director, watching actors do their thing, and it makes me excited to figure out what it would be to go back into. Because I do love it."

If he does, he'll have an eager audience — and maybe a willing collaborator — in Hart, who expressed enthusiasm for working with Stiller on a comedy. "Don't threaten me with a good time!" Hart said. "If you figure it out, Ben, and you got some funky different thing… I would jump at the opportunity."

"Just so we can sit on set together and you can tell me not to give a s--- about the critics," Stiller quipped in response.

You can hear more from Stiller and Hart in the video below.