Ben Stiller has been in Australia only one day but he has already figured out that Australia Day is "complicated".
The actor, who is in Sydney for the premiere of Zoolander 2, watched the celebrations from his hotel room at Sydney Harbour, and even posted some video of the events.
"I was right in the epicentre because my hotel was right by the water, so I was seeing everything," Stiller told AAP on the red carpet in Sydney on Tuesday.
"I found it very festive. I know it's complicated too, but it seemed like the celebration was really inclusive that they had outside the hotel," he said.
"I guess it's a little bit like our Fourth of July, except you're not really celebrating independence from England."
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Earlier in the day, Stiller posted a video of Australia Day celebrations, panning the harbour in front of the Opera House as helicopters flew overhead and crowds gathered on the bow of a cruise ship to the sound of David Bowie's Let's Dance.
"Pretty cool #Australia Day celebration acknowledging the indigenous Aboriginal population and #Bowie," he tweeted.
The film brings Ben Stiller back to the ridiculously good-looking role of Derek Zoolander, 15 years after the original movie.
Stiller admitted that in an age of selfies and social media, he couldn't keep Zoolander away.
"It sort of feels like the social media was beckoning Derek out of the shadows," he said. "Just the selfie mode on the camera alone was enough to lure him out of his cave."
The original comedy became a cult hit after it had left the big screen.
"That's what I specialise in, movies that do well after the cinemas. Anybody can do well in the cinema," he joked.
But Stiller always had faith in the film.
"I always loved the movie and had a great time doing it and it was great to feel over the years people still connecting with the movie and that it had a life," he said.
"That's the nicest feeling, even more than when the movie does well at first."
