Kristen Wiig is even more beautiful in person. It’s the World Premiere of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and the Bridesmaids star is wearing a fetching white blouse and pastel blue jersey. Moderator Dennis Lim, known for his withering critiques of below par Hollywood movies, swoons when Wiig walks on the New York Film Festival stage for a group interview. On screen and in person, Wiig has a nice chemistry with co-star Ben Stiller.
What was the most challenging thing for you as a director and actor in the same movie?
Kristen Wiig: I’ll take this one [laughs].
Ben Stiller: Please.
Kristen: [Laughs] Just kidding. Just kidding, go ahead.
Ben: Please answer the question; we need to hear from you. Kristen Wiig ladies and gentlemen, c’mon she’s awesome.
Kristen: Thank you… Actually I do want to add something to that, I mean you just saw this movie, and directing it alone looks like an incredibly impossible challenge, and just watching Ben do that and directing and being there as an actor and guiding everybody, was really amazing to watch. I’m talking about him like he’s not here, but it was really inspiring.
I’m curious what some of those movies were that you watched together?
Kristen: Oh my gosh he’s like “let’s watch Zoolander, let’s watch um…”
Ben: Let’s watch it again.
Kristen: The Cable Guy.
Ben: Watch every single one of the movies that I’ve directed.
Kristen: They were all his movies.
Ben: All the blockbusters, Cable Guy. No we watched…
Kristen: The Apartment.
Ben: We watched Being There, you know just great movies.
How is the chemistry made so believable in such a short period of time?
Ben: We had an affair.
Kristen: Eight hours [humorous pause] of love.
Ben: It was good for a while.
Kristen: Ben hosted Saturday Night Live when I was there. I think that was when we really first met and started working together. I think it was right after that was when we met about the movie.
Alexander Bisley (@alexanderbisley) attended many enjoyable group interviews at the New York Film Festival, including Tom Hanks.
