Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, and director Jay Roach reunited at Manhattan’s Tribeca Performing Arts Center to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Meet the Parents. The comedy follows male nurse Greg Focker (Stiller) as he navigates awkward moments visiting his girlfriend’s family. De Niro plays Greg Byrnes, a strict retired CIA agent and father of Stiller’s character’s fiancée, played by Polo.
“It’s so much fun to hear laughter in a theater with comedy that’s 25 years old,” Stiller said during the Q&A. “It still works.”
Stiller joked about how people still call him “Focker” in public, sometimes without much respect. He also shared a humorous connection with male nurses who treat him.
Director Jay Roach revealed that Steven Spielberg was originally in talks to direct the film with Jim Carrey as the lead. When they left the project, Roach and Stiller took over. Polo joined the cast just days before filming began, stepping into a cast of established stars.
Polo recalled De Niro’s advice on comedy: “It’s the honesty in which you say the line. You’re not trying to be funny. You say it and really mean it.”
Meet the Parents was a box office hit, earning over $330 million worldwide. It was followed by Meet the Fockers (2004) and Little Fockers (2010), the latter receiving poor reviews but still grossing $310 million.
Now, the franchise is set to expand with a fourth film in development, featuring Ariana Grande. Stiller explained the new story will have an “organic reason” to revisit the characters, reflecting his own age compared to De Niro’s when they made the first film.
De Niro praised the new script as “really fun” and shared that he has pushed for another sequel for years. “When we filmed the last one, I said, ‘Let’s start writing the next one now,’” he said. “Now we are finally doing the next one.”
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