Ben Stiller recently opened up about a challenging period in his life. He shared details about his time apart from his wife, Christine Taylor. Their separation lasted several years before they found their way back to each other.
The actor started thinking deeply after his father, Jerry Stiller, passed away in 2020. Ben began to consider making a film about his famous parents. At 59, his acting career was doing great. However, his personal life wasn’t as smooth.
"My career had been going for a long time, but personally things weren’t going too well," Ben recalled in his new documentary, Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost. "I felt out of balance, unhappy, and like a little bit disconnected from my family, from my kids, and just a little lost." The film premiered at the New York Film Festival on Sunday, October 5, as reported by People.
He continued, sharing his thoughts on his parents. "I started thinking about my parents and all the stress and tension I remember seeing as a kid," Ben explained. He wondered how they managed to stay together despite all the pressure from working side-by-side. "I think I wanted to understand somehow how they did it."
Ben and Taylor had been together for almost two decades. They announced their split in 2017. "With immense love and mutual respect, and following the 18 years we spent together as a couple, we have made the decision to separate," the couple told Us Weekly in a joint statement at the time. They added, "Our priority will continue to be raising our children as dedicated parents and the closest of friends. We kindly ask the media to respect our privacy at this time."
The couple has two children, Ella, who is 23, and Quinn, who is 20. In 2022, they surprised many by revealing they were back together. "Then, over the course of time, [our relationship] evolved," Ben told Esquire in a 2022 interview. He explained that he moved back in with Taylor and their children during the COVID-19 pandemic. "We were separated and got back together, and we’re happy about that," he said. "It’s been really wonderful for all of us. Unexpected and one of the things that came out of the pandemic."
Since their reunion, Ben has shared more about his relationship with Taylor. In January, he reflected on a time when his marriage wasn’t in a good place. This happened after they moved from California to New York, following the premiere of Zoolander 2.
"There were a lot of things going on," Ben told The New York Times. "When we separated, we just had space to see what our relationship was, how my life felt when we weren’t together, how much I loved our family."
He went on to describe the time apart. "It was like three or four years that we weren’t together, but we were always connected," he noted. "In my mind, I never stopped wanting us to be together. I don’t know where Christine was, you’d have to ask her, but COVID put us all together in the same house."
When the journalist called that moment "an act of God," Ben agreed. "It was almost a year living in the same house before we really got back together," Ben explained. "But I’m so grateful for that, and I think not a lot of people get back together after separating. There’s nothing like that, when you come back. You have so much more appreciation for what you have, because we know we might not have it."
Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost will be shown in select movie theaters starting October 17. It will also be available to watch on Apple TV+ beginning October 24.