These 7 Friends Dressed Up as Different Ben Stiller Characters for Halloween Tradition

Best Group Halloween Costumes of Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller, 2019

For the past seven years, one faction of friends has excelled at coordinating their group Halloween costumes. Doing this is not an easy feat, as these types of arrangements can often be tricky. To ensure that everyone has an outfit, at least one person has to dress as a more obscure character and risk not being recognized. But these seven pals have found a way around this unfortunate truth. Each year, they select an actor and each person recreates an iconic role that the chosen celebrity played. For 2019, they are calling themselves Ben Still’hers’ and have dressed as the likes of some of Ben Stiller’s greatest film roles.

Auburn Salcedo is one part of the group, and she chose to be Tony Perkis from the 1995 film Heavyweights. While Salcedo is a throwback, some of her other friends—Paige, Aida, Jamie, Lindsay, Lauren, and Heather—dressed as more contemporary iterations of Stiller including Chas Tenenbaum from The Royal Tenenbaums and Tugg Speedman from Tropic Thunder. Each person is impeccably dressed and instantly recognizable as the character they are intending to be. This is the result of meticulous dedication to their outfits, some of which are completely custom and others that are a mixture of store-bought costumes adorned with personalized elements.

The group Halloween costumes started when they recreated roles played by Johnny Depp. At this point, they were all living in Omaha, Nebraska and working at an advertising agency. Since that time, several of the women have moved out of state, but it’s a tradition that they’ve kept up with every year (with the exception of 2017). It’s one that they intend to continue, as it gives them a reason to see each other at least once a year.

Salcedo has turned to Reddit for suggestions on what they should be for Halloween 2020. And deciding on who gets what role? Salcedo and her friends treat it as a game. “We choose which character each person gets by doing something similar to a Fantasy Football draft.”

These women dress up in the best group Halloween costumes. Since 2012 (with the exception of 2017), they each recreate the iconic roles of a single actor.

Large Group Halloween Costumes of Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks, 2018

Large Group Halloween Costumes of Bill Murray

Bill Murray, 2016

Large Group Halloween Costumes of Robin Williams

Robin Williams, 2015

Large Group Halloween Costumes of Will Ferrell

Will Ferrell, 2014

Large Group Halloween Costumes of Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey, 2013

Large Group Halloween Costumes of Johnny Depp

Johnny Depp, 2012

Auburn Salcedo, one of the group members, compiled this giant grid featuring each woman's costume throughout the years and comparing it with the role they were recreating.

Large Group Halloween Costumes of Jim Carrey

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Auburn Salcedo.

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Sara Barnes

Sara Barnes is a Staff Editor at My Modern Met, Manager of My Modern Met Store, and co-host of the My Modern Met Top Artist Podcast. As an illustrator and writer living in Seattle, she chronicles illustration, embroidery, and beyond through her blog Brown Paper Bag and Instagram @brwnpaperbag. She wrote a book about embroidery artist Sarah K. Benning titled 'Embroidered Life' that was published by Chronicle Books in 2019. Sara is a graduate of the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her BFA in Illustration in 2008 and MFA in Illustration Practice in 2013.
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