At this point it would seem like just about everybody has appeared in the Fast & Furious franchise. With F9 on the way, and I still can't believe we're calling it that, no less than two former WWE champions have been in the franchise. Multiple characters have died and then turned out to not be dead. Helen Mirren asked to be in the franchise and then preceded to have that wish granted. Even Wonder Woman was in these movies before she was Wonder Woman.
This made a rumor that broke over the weekend, that Ben Stiller was going to appear in F9, officially not the craziest thing that could potentially be happening in the franchise. While Ben Stiller isn't the first name you think of when it comes to automotive based action movies, that was far from enough evidence that it wasn't happening. Unfortunately, if you were hoping to see Stiller appear, it seems that won't be happening, as the actor has now come out to unequivocally deny any truth to the rumor.
We can likely take Ben Stiller at his word here. Usually, when an actor tries to deflect attention from a rumor that's actually true, there's a bit more wiggle room in the statement. Here Stiller says flat out that the rumor is "not at all true."
Still, it's maybe not too surprising. The original rumor claimed that Ben Stiller would be shooting scenes "soon," which seemed odd for a movie that's set to be released in less than two months. Still, it could have just been some sort of cameo that was being added at the last minute, perhaps a scene in the credits meant to set up Fast 10.
Of course, with the rumor apparently being completely untrue, one wonders just where it came from. While rumors certainly can come from anywhere, and often do, there's usually a kernel of truth in them that simply got inflated. It's possible that maybe there were talks with Ben Stiller about a role at some point that didn't work out. It's possible somebody misread IMDb and thought that his role of Mr. Furious from Mystery Men was actually a part in a Fast & Furious movie. Maybe this was an April Fool's Day joke that was accidentally published on Leap Day by somebody who doesn't understand how calendars work. Or maybe the whole thing was just completely made up.
If the idea of seeing Ben Still in F9 was incredibly exciting to you, then I'm terribly sorry to bring you this awful news. It looks like it won't be happening. Of course, if enough people are upset by this news and there's a fan petition to get Ben Stiller cast in Fast 10, maybe it could happen in the future. Do you think Ben Stiller started this rumor?
