After spending some time focusing on his producer and directorial work, Ben Stiller is making his way back onto our screens. The 57-year-old is in final talks to star in the limited series adaption of the documentary Three Identical Strangers. The role would have Stiller star as the adult brothers.
Three Identical Strangers is based on the true tale of Bobby Shafran, David Kellman, and Eddy Galland who were identical triplets separated at birth. They were reunited later on in life and became minor media sensations due to the bizarre circumstances of their separation. The documentary of their lives went on to win the special jury prize for documentary storytelling at Sundance in 2018.
The story will be set in New York over a number of decades as it follows the at-times joyous and at times emotionally disturbing journey of the brothers on the road to discovering who they are and just why they were separated in the first place. The series will follow the documentary though with Stiller playing the role of all three brothers in the adult stage of their lives.
The series will serve as a rare television appearance for the actor who made his name in comedic movie franchises such as Zoolander, Night at the Museum, and Meet the Parents. He stepped away from the limelight for a while with his last major role being in 2017 in The Meyerowitz Stories though he has cameoed in movies since then.
Though the actor has rarely appeared in television shows, he has been directing them with notable mentions being his directorial work on the Emmy-winning shows Escape at Dannemora and Severance. It will be written by Amy Lippman with Sony Pictures Television producing. Lippman will also be acting as showrunner and executive producer on the series with Stiller also taking on the role of producer via his production company Red Hour Films.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article stated that the role would see Stiller play all three strangers but has been amended.