Throwback Thursday: October 2007 – Ben Stiller

Check out what we were up to in October of ’07. Don’t worry, we’ll leave out our middle school class picture.

Every week, we send someone stumbling into the dark Maxim archives to see what we were up to way back when. This week we’re going back to October of 2007, when we named Chicago the toughest city in America, and Kid Rock was the shit.

Where You’ve Seen Him: Funnyman Ben Stiller has the distinction of being the only dude to appear solo on the cover of Maxim, but with hits like Meet The Parents, There’s Something About Mary, Zoolander, and Dodgeball, it’s easy to see why he was deemed worthy of such an honor. The actor clearly has a knack for shelling out successful comedies,and in ’07, we named his flick The Heartbreak Kid the “funniest and raunchiest movie” of the year.

Where He Is Now: Since then, Stiller went for a dip in the indie pool with Greenberg, turned Meet the Parents into a franchise, and had a memorable recurring role on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Next up is a leading role in the film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (which he also directed), premiering Christmas day, and an array of other 2014 releases. There’s no debating that Stiller is bona fide Hollywood royalty.

Featuring:

America’s Toughest Cities


Looking back at this “America’s Toughest Cities” spread, we found that some things never change: the unemployment rate in Chicago is still ridiculously high (10.9%), the Houston Texans continue to be one of the worst teams in the AFC, and the weather in Seattle still sucks. So far, so good. But our justification for claiming Milwaukee’s to be the tenth toughest city in America seems questionable: “America’s thirstiest city thrives despite the worst diet of any top-10 place. Only 22 percent of cheeseheads here eat their recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables.” Um, 22%? That’s at least 21.9% more than any Maxim editor ever eats.

Icon: Kid Rock


When Kid Rock burst onto the rock scene, backwoods rednecks rejoiced – finally, a representative pillar from their community! – and with his tough reputation and “I don’t give a shit” attitude, the musician quickly made his way up the entertainment ladder. That year you couldn’t go anywhere without hearing some kid blasting “All Summer Long” from his parents’ mini van. Since then, the rocker’s music hasn’t been as prominent in our daily lives. Of course, “Picture” manages to slip through the cracks of classic rock stations, and that’s fine with us – after all, we can never have enough Sheryl Crow in our lives. 

CLARIFICATION:  The October 2007 issue featured the actress Erica Durance. The Ben Stiller cover was a limited edition run.

More Throwback Thursdays:

Throwback Thursday: December 2006 – Angelina Jolie

Throwback Thursday: November 2002 – Rebecca Romijn