STILL MONKEYING AROUND BEN STILLER TELLS US WHAT'S SO FUNNY ABOUT TEAMING UP WITH AN ANGRY PRIMATE.

Byline: Bob Strauss Film Writer

Ben Stiller's back, and big things are expected.

The 41-year-old comedy phenomenon stars in ``Night at the Museum'' (opening Friday) as a loser dad whose last-ditch night watchman job at New York's Natural History Museum turns to terror when all the exhibits come to life.

But it might just make his son think he's cool.

If he survives till dawn.

The combination of the hapless hero of ``There's Something About Mary,'' ``Meet the Parents,'' ``Meet the Fockers'' and ``Madagascar'' with family-friendly special effects has box-office watchers predicting ``Museum'' will be the holiday season's hands-down hit.

But if headlining an all-but-sure thing -- again -- has gone to Stiller's head, it sure doesn't show. Though more confident than most of his screen personas, he answers serious questions thoughtfully and responds to jokey setups with modest but precise wit.

He seems a bit perplexed by his massive success, and expresses interest in getting back to the eclectic, satirical stuff he started out making.

Then again, playing fetch with a dinosaur is great work if you can get it. And unlike a lot of people who make it big in this business, Ben Stiller sees no reason to complain.

Q: With ``Madagascar'' and now this, you seem to be making more family films. Does having a 4-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son have anything to do with that?

A: I guess I'm offsetting that with the movie I'm making right now, which is this Farrelly brothers R-rated thing. But it just sort of happened. I started working on ``Madagascar'' before Ella was born.

This one, I think I was open to it more because I have kids. Just for the reason that when you have kids you become aware of the value of a good family movie, just to have something you can all watch together and enjoy.

Q: You work with a lot of strange characters in ``Night at the Museum'' -- Attila the Hun, an animated T. Rex skeleton, Mickey Rooney -- but we hear the live monkey was the toughest.

A: A lot of screen teams, you know, sometimes on screen they have good chemistry, but off screen they don't get along? I'd say that's sort of what me and Crystal (the monkey) had. You know, she gets to hit me.

But I guess there's some rule -- is it, like, animal protection laws, or is it just because you can't hit a monkey because they'll bite you or something? I wanted to, but I couldn't hit her back, so I'd have to almost connect and then stop. And when it came time for my close-up, I'd get the monkey puppet to hit, or a green tennis ball.

It's not satisfying. So I have unresolved issues with Crystal. And if I see her now, I probably would want to smack her.

Q: Did you learn any special skills to play, um, a history museum night watchman?

A: Well, I learned to speak Hun, which is great. And that's actually Hun; it's ancient Hun, so you can't really check it.

Q: Your guy's a total ignoramus about history, too, which is pretty funny. What about you? Know much about the subject?

A: I love history, I'm very interested in it, and I think it's great to have a movie that brings it alive in a way. And it's sort of that romanticized version of it, but that's like what you get into as a kid. As you get older, you learn the realities of history and get depressed by the fact that more people have died in the name of God than anything else and all that. But this is the fun version.

Q: Is it kind of ironic that this pricey, special-effects-laden comedy is coming out at the end of a year when studios pulled the plugs on a number of expensive laughfests, including the ``Used Guys'' project you were going to make with Jim Carrey?

A: There have been a lot of articles written about that recently, but I don't know if that's actually the reality, from what I'm seeing out there. I think there are big-budget movies out there being made, and comedy is the type of thing that either works or doesn't work. You can make a comedy for $17 million and it's huge, and you can make a comedy for $117 million and it's huge -- or they can both fail. There's a lot that goes on the line with any movie these days.

Q: Much as we love your wicked Tom Cruise impressions, we've gotta ask: Can you give the poor guy a break and lay off those for a little while?

A: I officially retired my Tom Cruise impression after Tom and I did this MTV thing for ``Mission: Impossible II.'' I love Tom and Katie and we're friendly. I just do it for him in private now. We laugh at each other.

Q: I can understand if this is too personal a matter and you don't want to discuss it, but those reports on the Internet about your bipolar condition...

A: That's not true, and I'm happy to disprove that. It was said in jest in a GQ article, but it's haunted me forever. But for me, it's not like I can go around saying, ``Hey, I'm not bipolar!'' That'll be a great headline: `I'm Not Bipolar.'

Q: Any other misconceptions about you that you'd like to clear up?

A: You know what? I don't know, because I'm not aware of what the conceptions are. So I don't want to start disproving things that may not even be there.

Q: Anything we may not know about Ben Stiller that you think we should? That's, y'know, true hopefully.

A: I like to play the drums a little bit, for fun. By myself, with headphones on. Like, I've got drums that no one else can hear except me. I don't want to make anybody suffer through that.

Q: You're starting to do voice work for the ``Madagascar'' sequel. Can you tell us what happens in it to your lion character, Alex, and the rest of the gang?

A: All the animals head back to New York on that plane that was up in the trees, and then they crash in Africa. Alex gets reacquainted with his real family, and it goes from there.

Bob Strauss, [phone]

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THE BEN STILLER SHOW

Background: Born Benjamin Edward Stiller in New York on Nov. 30, 1965.

All in the family: It's no secret where Stiller got his comedic sense, growing up with legendary comedian parents Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara. Even sister Amy, his childhood co-star in many a home production, is in the business of making laughs. On being lucky enough to inherit the funny gene, Stiller says, ``If my parents were like, plumbers, who knows what I would be doing.''

A flair for drama: After deciding college was not for him, Stiller landed a starring role on stage in the dark comedy ``The House of Blue Leaves.'' Though he has the knack for making us laugh, his dramatic roles touch on other emotions as well.

Man behind the magic: While known for delivering impeccably timed lines in front of the camera, Stiller has logged his fair share of time behind the camera, including his roles as actor and director of the '90s cult classic ``Reality Bites.'' When it comes to movie business, Stiller warns, ``You've constantly got to prove yourself. So I can be a real ass on the set sometimes.''

Something about Ben: Though many may see it as unnecessary with box-office successes like ``There's Something About Mary,'' ``Meet the Parents'' and its sequel under his belt, Stiller continues to manage his ever-expanding role as actor, writer, director, husband, father and the funniest guy you never met. On how to keep going, he heeds his father's advice: ``Go take a nap.''

CAPTION(S):

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Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) SERIOUSLY

Ben Stiller on growing up funny, parenthood and his new movie, 'A Night at the Museum'

(2) no caption (Ben Stiller)

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(3) no caption (Ben Stiller)

(4) Stiller and Crystal the monkey get up close in ``A Night at the Museum,'' the making of which left Stiller with ``unresolved issues'' about the simian.

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THE BEN STILLER SHOW (see text)