Ben Stiller and his hair attend the world premiere of Night at the Museum II at the Empire Cinema in London, UK on May 13, 2009.

Fame

Ben Stiller’s impersonation of Joaquin Phoenix at the Oscars was a last minute addition to the show – because the Tropic Thunder star refused to stick to official script.

Stiller appeared alongside Natalie Portman to introduce the nominees for the Best Cinematography award at Sunday’s (22Feb09) Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

And Stiller shocked the star-studded crowd by wearing a scruffy fake beard and wandering aimlessly around the stage, mocking Phoenix’ recent string of bizarre public appearances since the Gladiator star ‘quit acting’ to focus on his rap career.

But the gag only made the cut because Stiller had “a meltdown” at rehearsals on Saturday, “because he was unhappy with the script and decided he could do better,” according to New York Post gossip column PageSix.

A source tells the publication, “Ben refused to tell them what he planned until he arrived at the Kodak Theatre, and then he did that Joaquin Phoenix bit.”

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My favorite Oscar moment had to have been when Ben Stiller came onstage as Joaquin Phoenix.  Sporting dark sunglasses and a bushy beard that David Letterman might liken to the Unabomber’s, Ben Stiller walked on stage with Nathalie Portman, ostensibly to present the Best Cinematography category. As Portman played straight (wo)man, dutifully reading the names of the nominees, Stiller absently gazed stage right, defiantly placed his used chewing gum on the podium, and wandered aimlessly around the stage. ”You look like you work at a Hasidic meth lab,” Portman said, getting a few laughs of her own. Does taking pot shots at two-time nominee Phoenix approach the line of bad taste? Absolutely. But like Marisa Tomei, we laughed our pretty little heads off.

Runner up would be Steve Martin and Tina Fey. While presenting Best Original Screenplay, the comedians regaled us with scripted banter that was actually funny. In what had to be a mocking reference to Scientology, Martin extolled the power of ”Alien King Rondelay” in the writing process, to which Fey responded, ”No one wants to hear about our religion that we made up.” Moments later, when they introduced the Best Adapted Screenplay category, Fey stared adoringly at Martin. ”Don’t fall in love with me,” he deadpanned. It was goofy and loose and fun — three things the telecast could have used more of.

Winners at Thursday’s 14th annual Critics’ Choice Awards:

• Picture: “Slumdog Millionaire”

• Actor: Sean Penn, “Milk”

• Actress: Tie: Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married,” and Meryl Streep, “Doubt”

• Supporting actor: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

• Supporting actress: Kate Winslet, “The Reader”

• Acting ensemble: “Milk”

• Director: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”

• Writer: Simon Beaufoy, “Slumdog Millionaire”

• Animated feature: “WALL-E”

• Young actor/actress: Dev Patel, “Slumdog Millionaire”

• Action movie: “The Dark Knight”

• Comedy movie: “Tropic Thunder”

• Picture made for television: “John Adams”

• Foreign language film: “Waltz With Bashir”

• Documentary feature: “Man On Wire”

• Song: “The Wrestler,” Bruce Springsteen, “The Wrestler”

• Composer: A.R. Rahman, “Slumdog Millionaire”

• Joel Siegel award: Richard Gere

Pictured: Kate Beckinsale, Kristen Bell, Elizabeth Banks, Penelope Cruz, Diane Lane & Josh Brolin, Anne Hathaway, Ben Stiller & Christine Taylor, Emile Hirsch, Amanda Bynes, Katy Perry, Evan Rachel Wood, Amy Adams, Dakota Fanning, Richard Gere, Eva Longoria, Marisa Tomei & Julia Ormond.

Pictured: Cameron Diaz, America Ferrera, Ben Stiller & wife Christine Taylor.

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The comic superstar, in London to promote the “Madagascar” sequel, tells The Sun “We’ve been trying to get Zoolander 2 together and we’ve had a few scripts. I feel that is the sequel I really would like to do some day because I like the original and I would make sure it was something new and worthy of it first”.

Stiller also told the paper he’s trying to get a third “Meet the Parents” up too.

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What in the world is Fergie wearing?

Pictured: Will Smith and wife Jada with their children Willow and Jaden, Ben Stiller and wife Christine Taylor, David Schwimmer and girlfriend Zoe Buckman,  Fergie and Toni Braxton, Chris Rock and his daughter, Debi Mazar with husband Gabriele Corcos and thier children Evelyn Giulia.

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