Ben Stiller's ascent to A-list stardom always seemed a little bit quieter than fellow comedians such as Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler. That's because it's hard to peg something as a "Ben Stiller vehicle" -- sometimes he's playing the straight man to famous co-stars (Meet the Fockers), sometimes he plays the buffoon and lets his friends play the straight roles (Dodgeball), and sometimes he's at the center of CGI family adventure extravaganzas (Night at the Museum). Clearly, it's working for him. This weekend he's back in theaters with the Night at the Museum sequel, Battle of the Smithsonian. At the film's Washington D.C. premiere, we got the chance to talk a bit with Stiller about making the film. "In the beginning of the movie, he's sort of found success and he's quit his job as a night guard because his inventions have taken off," Stiller says. "But then he gets a call that they're moving all the exhibits down to the Smithsonian for storage because they're updating the museum." New cast additions include Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart and Hank Azaria as Kah Mun Rah, and pretty much all the original cast is back, including Owen Wilson and Steve Coogan as the two pint-sized museum action figures, Jedediah and Octavius. "I get a call from Jed, the Owen Wilson character, that they're in trouble because an evil Egyptian king has come to life and wants to take over the world, and I have to go help them," he says. "That's basically the setup of the movie. That 'basic' setup. Evil Egyptian king, wants to take over the world...you know." Another element of the first movie that's returning for a second go-round is the cute capuchin monkey who slaps him. In fact, in this movie, there are two monkeys. "She was fine," Stiller says of the animal. "She did her job, she hit her marks, hit the face. A little more monkey slapping. Not always my favorite day on the set. It's a little bit intense. You walk away feeling a little bit beaten up. Emotionally. You're getting slapped by a monkey, it's not like you're doing a movie with Ralph Fiennes." Last summer, Stiller scored a big hit with Tropic Thunder -- which he also directed. He doesn't mention whether or not he'd consider a Tropic Thunder sequel, but when asked about the possibility, he does bring up the movie he directed before that one. "Possibly a Zoolander sequel. I'd like to figure out that one. I'd definitely like to do that one."