16 November 2012 Last updated at 04:21 ET

Ben Stiller honoured for his work in film

Ben Stiller: "It is probably going to be painful for me to go through"

Ben Stiller received an honour at the 26th Annual American Cinematheque event in Beverly Hills on Thursday for his contribution to film.

Along Came Polly co-star Jennifer Aniston, Laura Dern and Martin Short paid tribute to the comedy star.

Stiller, 46, joins past award recipients Tom Cruise, George Clooney and Steven Spielberg.

He joked: "It is probably going to be painful for me to go through", adding the tribute would be "more roast-like".

He said: "Hopefully it will be fun and definitely like the kind of a nightmare you have to go to, and know you're gonna have a whole evening devoted to people talking about you, and have to look at stuff that I've done, and stuff I've tried to lock out for years."

Stiller's memorable performances include supermodel Derek Zoolander and roles in There's Something About Mary with Cameron Diaz and the Meet The Parents series, opposite Robert DeNiro.

He has also directed and produced several films with credits including Submarine and Megamind in 2010, Tropic Thunder in 2008 and Starsky and Hutch in 2004.

Born into a comedic family, Stiller has been working in the industry for nearly three decades getting his break with a stint on sketch show Saturday Night Live in 1987.

He later won an Emmy Award for his programme The Ben Stiller Show, which aired on MTV and Fox in 1992.

Ben Stiller is married to his Zoolander co-star Christine Taylor. They have two children.

Stiller's co-star in 2010's Little Fockers, actress Laura Dern said: "He is a filmmaker in every sense of the word, not just when he is directing. When he is producing, when he is an actor on a film, he is thinking about the whole vision of the film, even if it is for another director. And I know that from working with him."

The prize was awarded at the Beverly Hilton Hotel by American Pie star Eugene Levy and comic actor Martin Short, who worked with Stiller in the animated movie Madagascar 3.

"I think that Ben is constantly pushing his personal envelope trying to see what else he can accomplish that he has not accomplished before," he explained, "And that's the sign of a great artist."

Stiller has recently filmed a remake of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty while a sequel to Zoolander is in pre-production.