- Ben Stiller said that Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned for the part of Hansel in “Zoolander.”
- Stiller told Esquire that Owen Wilson was a doubt due to scheduling conflicts so they held auditions.
- Christine Taylor and Will Ferrell were also almost denied their respective roles in the film.
Ben Stiller revealed to Esquire that a young Jake Gyllenhaal auditioned for the part of Hansel in the cult classic movie “Zoolander.”
“Zoolander” and its sequel “Zoolander 2” are comedies about the lives of fictional models Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller) and Zoolander’s rival-turned-friend Hansel (Owen Wilson).
For the 20th anniversary of the first movie, three stars from the movie — Stiller, Christine Taylor and Milla Jovovich — spoke to Esquire about the satirical movie about modeling and the fashion industry.
Stiller stated that Wilson was his first choice to play Hansel. However when Wilson wasn’t able, auditions were held.
“The only one that I remember clearly was a young Jake Gyllenhaal doing this wide-eyed version of Hansel that was really funny,” Stiller said.
Paramount Pictures
He also said that the movie’s main villain Mugatu was nearly not portrayed by Will Ferrell.
“Andy Dick was supposed to play Mugatu,” The 55-year-old actor said but because the comedian wasn’t available due to his work on a sitcom, Dick had a smaller role in “Zoolander” as Olga, the masseuse.
“Now it’s impossible for me to picture anybody but Will doing it,” Stiller added.
In the Esquire article, Stiller’s wife, Christine Taylor, explained that she did not initially want to be a part of the movie to avoid awkwardness at home, but after being persuaded, a lot of Stiller and Taylor’s immediate family and friends also got involved in “some capacity.”
“Being able to have a scene with my father in law (Jerry Stiller who played Maury Ballstein) where he’s looking at my chest, [saying] ‘With a push-up bra, you could have a nice rack of lamb going on there,’ we were just laughing non-stop,” Taylor said.