Shawn Weiss Says Ben Stiller Stayed in Character on ‘Heavyweights,’ Kept Distance From Younger Cast

Shaun Weiss recalled Ben Stiller wanting to keep a healthy distance from the younger cast on the set of 1995’s Heavyweights.

“Ben stayed in character,” Weiss, 45, said on the Monday, April 14, episode of “Pod Meets World,” recalling Stiller’s performance as Tony Perkis. “He really did, and I think you know, the way he did that was by separation, and he wasn’t lax about it. It was like cut, ‘I’ll be over here.’”

Weiss shared that Stiller, 59, was “very deliberate in not establishing friendly relationships” with the kid actors . “I don’t know if that worked for him because he didn’t like kids or fat kids or what,” Weiss joked, adding that the actor “definitely made a choice to do that and I think it worked.”

According to Weiss, it was sometimes hard to keep a straight face in scenes with the Severance director. “It’s the only time I’ve ever had an issue with that in my entire career,” Weiss said. “It’s just not a thing for me, but having a straight face when Ben was doing that thing like this close to you was difficult.”

He continued, “I can be honest, like Ben wasn’t trying to be funny. He was very intense and very, like… scary. It was definitely a little scary. I think he wanted to have that effect on us, and I’m pretty sure it worked on everyone. For me, definitely.”

Along with Heavyweights, Weiss is known for his roles in The Mighty Ducks films and Freaks and Geeks. Heavyweights, written by Stiller and Judd Apatow, follows a group of kids attending a so-called “fat camp” that has been taken over by a fitness entrepreneur.

“I want to say almost everything he said was his own off the cuff stuff,” Weiss said of Stiller, 59, adding, “I mean, they might have arranged it a little before the take, you know.” He continued, “It was like that for all of us, where we had the freedom if we wanted to go off book. And that was just amazing to have that set up.”

While Stiller may have kept his distance, he still made an impact while filming the comedy.

“On the last day of production, you know, we were out there [for] three months. I walked up to him and I said, ‘Ben,’ I went to shake his hand,” Weiss recalled. “I said, ‘This has been just a magical experience learning from you and observing you, and I just want to thank you for an incredible shoot.’ And he shook my hand and said, ‘You’re welcome, man, and what’s your name again?’”

Us Weekly has reached out to Stiller’s reps for comment.