--- description: Find out why Ben Stiller is one of the 100 most influential people of 2026. title: Ben Stiller: The 100 Most Influential People of 2026 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb667a631a251051e/69dfb3c549bc9849a840aebc/T100-2026-Web-Ben-Stiller1.jpg?branch=production --- Apr 15, 2026 # Ben Stiller by Bob Odenkirk  Heather Hazzan—Trunk Archive I first met [Ben Stiller](https://time.com/6989720/israel-hamas-war-ben-stiller-essay/ "undefined") in 1989 when he was hired at _SNL._ We shared an office and wrote together, and we must have impressed each other because a few years later, Ben invited me to write and perform on Fox’s _The Ben Stiller Show._ That effort gave me a glimpse into Ben’s eye for detail. Though we met doing often broad, very silly sketch comedy, Ben revealed his powerful drive to pursue directing at a very high level. I think _Reality Bites,_ his feature directorial debut in 1994, was an amazing first film. I love 2008’s _Tropic Thunder._ I think 2013’s _The Secret Life of Walter Mitty_ was excellently directed; it had a human touch to it. [_Severance_](https://time.com/7269504/severance-season-3-questions/ "undefined") is, of course, a masterpiece. As an executive producer, Ben is [deeply into building the story](https://time.com/7319395/ben-stiller-documentary-stiller-and-meara-nothing-is-lost/ "undefined"), which is one of the most challenging, absurdist projects you could invent. To me, Ben is like _Breaking Bad_ creator Vince Gilligan: he’s a visionary and a perfectionist. He inspires me to pursue my art with higher standards of specificity and excellence, and I didn’t even mention his humanitarian work. I still look up to him. _Odenkirk is an actor and Emmy-winning writer_ _Join us on_ [_TIME's YouTube_](https://www.youtube.com/time "undefined") _for the 2026 TIME100 Gala Red Carpet Livestream, starting at 6:00 p.m. EST on April 23, 2026—and available after on demand_ Ben Stiller Is on the 2026 TIME100 List ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/ben-stiller/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/ben-stiller/"},"headline":"Ben Stiller","datePublished":"2026-04-15T11:00:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:21:47.607Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/ben-stiller/","keywords":["TIME 100","list","franchise","Accolades"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb667a631a251051e/69dfb3c549bc9849a840aebc/T100-2026-Web-Ben-Stiller1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Bob Odenkirk"}],"creator":"Bob Odenkirk","articleSection":"TIME100","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb667a631a251051e/69dfb3c549bc9849a840aebc/T100-2026-Web-Ben-Stiller1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/time100/","name":"TIME100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-100/","name":"TIME 100"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/100-most-influential-people/2026/ben-stiller/","name":"Ben Stiller"}}]}] ```