Q+a [ben Stiller]

Stiller: William Shatner has a cameo in Dodgeball, and he's a big horseman. He invited me to his annual charity horse show. There's probably no way in hell I would have ever gone except that I am a huge fan of William Shatner and Star Trek.

SI: What's your proudest athletic achievement?

Stiller: I got second place in a judo competition in Teaneck, N.J. I was 12. But I ate too soon before and got sick after, and that turned me off sports.

SI: Were you ever much of a dodgeball player?

Stiller: In fifth grade we had our gym classes in the crypt of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, and we played dodgeball when it was raining outside. That was Lord of the Flies time. I think that's why adult dodgeball makes more sense than kids playing. As adults we have a lot of that pent-up emotion that we have to let out.