New York City native Ben Stiller has been a frequent visitor at the US Open through the years, with the actor and director often spotted in Arthur Ashe Stadium. But the longtime tennis fan experienced the US Open stage from a different perspective on Sunday, when he was invited to hit in Louis Armstrong Stadium by Diego Schwartzman.
After watching the Argentine's practice session, Stiller needed convincing to take the court in the public view, but left with no regrets.
Just four days earlier, Armstrong played host to the Tennis Plays for Peace exhibition, which raised over $1.2 million for humanitarian releif efforts in Ukraine.
As Stiller entered the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on Tuesday evening to watch Rafael Nadal take on Rinky Hijikata—and later to see Schwartzman play Jack Sock in Armstrong—he spent a few minutes with USOpen.org to discuss all of the above.
USOpen.org: Were you able to catch any of the Tennis Plays for Peace event? Rafa was out there along with many other stars. What did you think of the evening?
Ben Stiller: I thought it was wonderful. I was out of town or I would have been there. It was great to see everybody coming together to really draw attention to what's going on over there.
USOpen.org: It was fun to see the players in that setting, outside of competition. We got to see a different side of them.
Ben Stiller: I'm curious what that's like for the players because I'm sure it's almost more stressful for them. They're so used to competing and getting in their mindset, and then they have to go out and sort of be, quote unquote, entertaining. And they all are so intense. So it's usually interesting to see what happens with those.
USOpen.org: Did you hit with Diego or were you guys teaming up?
Ben Stiller: I was hitting with Diego and then with his coach also. It was really, really wild. It's so big when you're standing there. I've seen it so many times, and to be standing out there, you just realize the immensity of the pressure. And the court, I know the court's the same size, but it feels a lot bigger when you're out there.
USOpen.org: How is your tennis game? Do you play a lot?
Ben Stiller: It's so-so. I do play a lot. I tend to get a lot of injuries. I recently just had a torn rotator cuff (laughs) and that's following an elbow and a couple of ankles, so really whenever I get some momentum going, usually I get hit with an injury of some type.
But I love playing. I started later in life. I'm not really into people actually watching me play, because I don't want to subject anybody to that, but for fun and just in terms of just being able to have a release in life, it's so much fun.
USOpen.org: So you're a tennis player, and of course you also have your professional work. Do you see any similarities between tennis and your work in front of or behind the camera?
Ben Stiller: I think you can definitely find parallels. First of all, it's any process that you're in where it involves concentration and being in something. Just watching how players react within the moment, I think there is a correlation with acting... you're reacting to what somebody is giving you.
As an example, if they're talking to you, whatever you're feeling from them, you have to react to that no matter where you're at. You also have to have a sense of who you are and whatever character you're playing. So I guess there's a way to look at that like how a tennis player comes out with a game plan, but then they have to be reactive to their opponent.
In acting, it's not your opponent. It's really your partner, but that reactivity and being sensitive to what's coming across to you is, I think, something that can really correlate with tennis.
