HOLLYWOOD - In the new movie "Zoolander," the spoofy tale of a male model caught up in international, "Manchurian Candidate"-style political intrigue, the dim-witted hero Derek Zoolander - played by Ben Stiller - has a number of killer facial expressions that have catapulted him to the top of the catwalk. There is "Blue Steel," "Ferrari," and, later in the film, the much-heralded beauty-weapon-in-disguise, "Magnum." The joke is that all the looks are the same overly serious, faux gaunt, cheekbone-enhancing, lip-puckering mug.
Stiller, who cowrote and directed the Paramount film, which opened Sept. 28, doesn't remotely think he's beautiful, which is also part of the gag of "Zoolander." He thinks he's like most people - OK-looking from one particular angle, "but only a really, really special angle that you have to always hit. I'm like that. It's kind of where the look comes from."
By: Rachel Abramowitz, Los Angeles Times|Date: Oct 7, 2001