Ben Stiller teases Ariana Grande and Robert De Niro's 'fun relationship' in “Focker In-Law”
"It plays into the dynamic of Greg Focker always kind of being stuck on the outside," Stiller says of the "Wicked" and "Taxi Driver" stars' onscreen team-up.
Wesley Stenzel1/28/26
Key points
- Ben Stiller says Focker In-Law will see his character "going through this same experience" as Robert De Niro's character in Meet the Parents.
- The Zoolander star says that Ariana Grande was "a joy to work with" who brings "a very, very new sensibility" to the series.
- Stiller says that Grande and De Niro share a "fun relationship" as "Greg Focker [is] always kind of being stuck on the outside."
Ben Stiller, who played the bumbling nurse in Meet the Parents and its sequels Meet the Fockers and Little Fockers, discussed returning to the franchise with Focker In-Law during a recent conversation with Entertainment Weekly.
The film will see Greg reunite with his on-screen father-in-law, Jack Burns (Robert De Niro), as his own adult son Henry (Skyler Gisondo) introduces his partner (Ariana Grande) to the family.
"The setup of the movie really seemed to make sense, which is why we wanted to do it," Stiller says, "Greg Focker is now the age that Jack Byrnes was when Greg married his daughter, and now he's going through this same experience."
Stiller says that Grande, who is joining the series in her first movie role since her breakout success in the Wicked films, helped breathe new life into the Focker universe.
"It was great to have her energy coming into this franchise that has been around a long time, and we hadn't done for a very long time," he says. "She's incredibly professional, and watching her on SNL, she knows comedy, and she was just a joy to work with. I had a blast working with her, and I think what she brought to the movie is just a very, very new sensibility that also felt very much like it worked within the tone of the movie."
Stiller also teases that Grande and De Niro share a "fun relationship" in the forthcoming film.
"Bob is such a fun guy," he says of the Taxi Driver star. "He's so funny in life, and the great thing about him is he could be the most intense, scary person in the world, but he also could be the most fun, lovable guy in the world. That's what's so brilliant about him and his movies. He really always understood how to play the comedy."
Stiller continues, "Watching him and her together — I can't really give away too much, but the connection between them in the film is pretty fun. And it plays into the dynamic of Greg Focker always kind of being stuck on the outside."
The Zoolander actor recently collaborated with another pop star, Benson Boone, in a promotional campaign for Instacart's Preference Picker feature. After the duo appeared in two preliminary teasers, the final ad in the campaign features Stiller and Boone singing about banana ripeness in a faux-'80s broadcast, and will air during a commercial break at the Super Bowl.
Like Grande, Stiller says that Boone was "incredible" to work with while shooting the Spike Jonze–directed commercial. "I loved him," the Royal Tenenbaums actor said of the "Beautiful Things" singer.
"First of all, he's so talented. He's got such a great, open attitude towards trying something," Stiller says. "I don't think he's done a lot of acting, and he just jumped into the improv, and he just has this incredible ability to put himself out there, in his musical talent, his physical abilities, and his willingness to kind of go and have fun."
Stiller also says that although Boone didn't have much experience with screen acting, the singer immediately showed skills while shooting the promos.
"What I was most excited about is that this guy's really an actor, and it was cool to see that, Oh, he could do this if he wanted to do it," the Secret Life of Walter Mitty director says. "And he also seems like he discovered he was a singer when he was, I don't know, 18 or 19. He didn't even start out singing when he was a kid, and he was more of an athlete who then discovered he could sing. So I feel like on this spot, he discovered he can improvise and do comedy, too."
