Ben Stiller is opening up about a deeply personal part of his life—his separation and eventual reunion with his wife, Christine Taylor. In the documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, which premiered at the New York Film Festival on October 5, the 59-year-old actor shared intimate details about the challenges he faced in his personal life, even while his career was flourishing.
Stiller admitted that despite his success in Hollywood, his home life was not in a good place. “My career had been going along for a long time, but things actually weren’t great in my personal life,” he reflected. “I just felt out of balance and unhappy and kind of disconnected from my family, from my kids, and just kind of a little bit lost.”
He also looked back on the relationship his parents, comedy icons Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, had. Their ability to stay together through difficult times made him wonder about his own path. “I started to think about my parents and all the stress and tension I remember seeing as a ki,d and the pressure when they were working together, and how they stayed together through it. … I think I wanted to somehow understand how they did it,” he shared with Us Weekly.
Stiller and Taylor, who share two children—daughter Ella, 23, and son Quinn, 20—announced their separation in 2017 after nearly 20 years together. The couple, however, emphasized in their statement that they still had “tremendous love and respect for each other” and would continue to co-parent and remain close friends.
Then, life took an unexpected turn. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Stiller moved back in with Taylor and their children, and the couple began to rebuild their relationship. By 2022, Stiller revealed in an interview with Esquire, “We were separated and got back together, and we’re happy about that. It’s been really wonderful for all of us. Unexpected, and one of the things that came out of the pandemic.”
Reflecting on their separation, Stiller explained that the time apart gave them the space to reflect on what truly mattered. “There was a lot going on,” he admitted, recalling the transition from California to New York after the release of Zoolander 2. “It was like three or four years that we weren’t together, but we were always connected. In my mind, I never wanted us to be together.”
In an interview earlier this year, when asked if their reunion felt like “an act of God,” Stiller agreed, explaining that they spent nearly a year living under the same roof before fully reconciling. “But I’m so grateful for it, and I think not that many people do come back together when they separate.
There’s nothing like that when you come back. You have so much more appreciation for what you have, because we know we could not have it.” Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost will be released in select theaters on October 17 and will begin streaming on Apple TV+ on October 24.