Ben Stiller, the celebrated actor and filmmaker known for his comedic timing and sharp wit, recently pulled back the curtain on his private life in a way few celebrities dare. In a series of candid interviews and a new documentary, Stiller, now 59, reflected on the complexities of parenthood, the shadow cast by his famous parents, and the emotional turbulence of his own marriage to actress Christine Taylor. The revelations, published on October 11, 2025, in The Sunday Times and further explored in his documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, offer a rare, vulnerable glimpse into the personal struggles behind the Hollywood façade.
Stiller and Taylor, who married in 2000, share two children: Ella, 23, and Quinn (sometimes referred to as Quinlin), 20. Their family life, at least from the outside, seemed enviable. But as Stiller openly admitted, the reality was far more complicated. "Like any parent, I remember things that weren’t happy about my childhood and go, ‘I’ll do better,’" he told The Sunday Times. "And then I realized it was impossible to avoid making the mistakes they made. I feel like I have a really great relationship with my kids, but it’s complicated and has at times been strained."
His parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, were legendary comedians who became household names through their work as the duo Stiller and Meara, making over 30 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show and even starring in their own variety show. Yet their fame came at a price. Ben recalled, "It totally affected us. I just remember missing them terribly. And when they would come back, my sister and I would act out Jesus Christ Superstar or something in the lounge." The long hours and frequent absences left a mark on Ben and his sister Amy, shaping his own approach to parenting—though not always for the better.
Stiller confessed to repeating some of his parents’ mistakes, despite his best intentions. "When they were young, I did not get it. I thought, ‘Oh, the kids are young, I can work away and be a good dad earning for the family.’ But the bonds you form with your kids when they’re young are so important," he admitted. He even went so far as to say, "I probably f–ked up more with my kids than my parents did with us." One particularly poignant example: Stiller cast his daughter Ella in a role in the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, which he directed, only to cut her part from the final version. "My son tells me that being a dad might not have been at the top of my list," he recalled, acknowledging the sting his decision caused.
But perhaps the greatest strain on the Stiller-Taylor family came during the couple’s three-year separation from 2017 to 2020. The split, which the pair chose to keep private at the time, was a source of pain for their children. "That was a strain on my relationship with the kids," Stiller said. "And I’d think, ‘Well, my parents never did that.’ But a long relationship is hard. You lose the freshness. I feel bad about what us breaking up did to the kids, but it was possibly the best thing to happen to Christine and me."
In Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, which premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 5 and is set to debut on Apple TV+ on October 24, Stiller delves deeper into the emotional fallout of the separation. "When we separated, my feeling was like ‘Oh, I’m failing at this’ and look at my parents. They have this incredible 50-plus year marriage and I can’t live up to that," he confides to Taylor in the documentary, according to People. The film not only chronicles the storied partnership of Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara but also serves as a mirror for Ben and Christine’s own journey.
Christine Taylor, too, has reflected publicly on their time apart. On a March 2023 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show, she explained, "Family was always a priority, but I think Ben and I both started to grow in different directions. And when we made the decision to separate, it was not something we wanted to talk publicly about or took lightly." She added, "I think we have these growth spurts, even as adults. And we needed time to figure that out."
The COVID-19 pandemic proved to be an unexpected turning point for the family. As lockdowns forced them under the same roof for nearly a year, old wounds began to heal. "All of a sudden we were together in the house and during that time I started to make the movie too. So there was sort of this coming together. Us talking about what we were going through, our issues, and looking at what my parents had been through too in a way I hadn’t looked at it before," Stiller explained in the documentary. He further shared with The New York Times in January 2025, "In my mind, I never didn’t want us to be together."
Eventually, the couple reconciled, a rare outcome for separated partners. Stiller acknowledged, "It was almost a year of living in the same house before we were actually together. But I’m so grateful for it, and I think not that many people do come back together when they separate." Taylor echoed this sentiment, noting that the time apart allowed them to "get to know who we are." The couple’s journey, marked by vulnerability and honest self-reflection, stands in contrast to the carefully curated images often projected by Hollywood families.
The documentary also explores the challenges of working alongside a spouse. Both Ben and Christine have shared the screen in films such as Zoolander and Dodgeball. Taylor told Ben in the film, "I do feel like there was history and I think a lot of it was your experience of what that ultimately meant for a relationship—that it could put extra strain when you're eating, sleeping, breathing each other in that way." She also pointed out the pressure of public perception, saying, "I also felt like there was a fear from you for me of what that would look like to the outside world. I mean it was very loaded."
For Stiller, the process of making Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost was as much about understanding himself as it was about honoring his parents. He admitted to feeling "out of balance and unhappy and kind of disconnected from my family, from my kids and just kind of a little bit lost" during the years of separation and professional uncertainty. By revisiting his parents’ story and confronting his own failings, Stiller seems to have found a measure of peace—and, perhaps, a deeper connection with his family.
Stiller’s willingness to speak openly about his mistakes and regrets, both as a parent and a partner, offers a refreshing alternative to the typical celebrity narrative. It’s a reminder that even those who make us laugh for a living are, at their core, wrestling with the same hopes, fears, and insecurities as the rest of us.
