Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Penélope Cruz take their seat on Graham Norton's red couch straight off the back of the Zoolander 2 UK premiere.
Stiller - who plays Derek Zoolander - discusses the film's initially slow success: “When it first came out it was the opposite of ‘immediate hit,’ but over the years it’s developed this sort of cult following.”
For avid fans, it’s hard to believe that the original hit screens in 2001, fifteen years ago.
“We would probably have done a sequel straight away but no one wanted it,” Stiller explains.
The fashion pack didn’t quite “get” the film the first time around, but Vogue’s head honcho Anna Wintour makes a cameo in the follow-up film. Surely that’s the only validation it needs.
Owen - who plays model Hansel in the film - adds: “Over the years it sort of developed and people would come up and mention it but it wasn’t really until we did the Valentino catwalk in Paris that we thought, ‘wow, there really is some excitement for the characters.’”
Cruz’s part was written especially for her by Stiller and she was thrilled to be cast in the new film.
She says: “I was a huge fan of the first film. I had seen it six or seven times and was one of those people that memorise the dialogue.”
Naturally, Stiller pulls off his trademark Blue Steel look with expert precision, which Sir Elton John likens to the permanent pout of Victoria Beckham.
BBC One, 10:35pm
