Ben Stiller revealed his parent’s relationship motivated him to rekindle with Christine Taylor during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, three years after separating.
Despite recalling how his mother and father, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, butted heads during their 60-year marriage, the actor explained he was inspired by their commitment to one another to never lose hope on the possibility of reconciliation.
Like Ben and Taylor, who have costarred in many projects together, Stiller’s parents, who met each other in a casting agent’s office, were a husband-and-wife comedy team that made frequent appearances on TV variety shows.
‘My dad was committed to turning their relationship into something that they could make a living doing a comedy act about,’ Stiller told The Hollywood Reporter. ‘And my mom didn’t really love that as much, but she was really good at it, and that affected their relationship.’
Ultimately, Ben acknowledged he began to repeat some of his parents’ dynamics when it came to allowing his career impact his marriage.
‘You start making movies, and if they don’t go well, that would affect me,’ he said.
Ben Stiller revealed his parent’s relationship motivated him to rekindle with Christine Taylor during the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, three years after separating; seen in 2023
After he and Taylor called it quits following 17 years of marriage in 2017, Stiller said he didn’t expect them ‘to get back together.’
‘When we broke up, there was a part of me that wasn’t ready to just give up on it. Probably a certain amount of that is having watched my parents,’ he admitted. ‘And I love Christine, I love my family, and I was not ready to just go, “OK, enough of this.”‘
During their time apart, Ben and Taylor never never formally filed for divorce.
Ben’s parented stayed married from 1954 until her death in 2015. His dad passed five years later in 2020.
Although, at times, he still has to be ‘pulled from’ work, Ben insists he is more balanced now.
‘I also really love hanging out with my family and Christine and having fun together,’ he said. ‘So I’m happy that I didn’t totally miss the boat on that.’
Ben recently said during an appearance on The View last month that he does not take a day with his wife for granted.
‘I don’t know how it happened other than we both wanted it,’ he said of how they fatefully rekindled after he moved in with her during the pandemic for the sake of their two children, daughter Ella, 22, and son Quinlin, 19.
Despite recalling how his mother and father, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, butted heads during their 60-year marriage, the actor explained he was inspired by their commitment to one another to never lose hope on the possibility of reconciliation (pictured last month)
Like Ben and Taylor, who have costarred in many projects together, Stiller’s parents, met each other in a casting agent’s office, were a husband-and-wife comedy team that made frequent appearances on TV variety shows; Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller seen in 1979
‘My dad was committed to turning their relationship into something that they could make a living doing a comedy act about,’ Stiller told The Hollywood Reporter . ‘And my mom didn’t really love that as much, but she was really good at it, and that affected their relationship’ (L-R: Jerry Stiller, daughter Amy, Ben, and Anne Meara pictured in 2009)
He went on to gush: ‘Now, every day that we’re together, we do not take for granted.’
‘At least, I know I don’t, because you know it could go away and that to me is the gift for our relationship is that we have that every day, and I really am so happy that we’re together,’ Ben added.
Still, he says you ‘have to work at it’ to keep your marriage strong.
‘I don’t have any great relationship advice other than I’m so grateful that we’re back together, and I think now — I think sometimes people shouldn’t get back together — sometimes it’s not the right thing. For us it was the right thing,’ he told the audience.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Stiller explained how the time apart ended up helping the couple.
‘When we separated, it was just having space to see what our relationship was, what my life felt like when we weren’t in that relationship, how much I loved our family unit,’ he said. ‘It was like three or four years that we weren’t together but we always were connected. In my mind, I never didn’t want 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,’ added the director.
It was ‘almost a year of living in the same house before we were actually together’ again.
After he and Taylor called it quits following 17 years of marriage in 2017, Stiller said he didn’t expect them ‘to get back together’ (seen on February 18, 2023)
The arrangement worked well for both of the stars, and the two began to reconcile.
He told Esquire in 2022: ‘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.’
Stiller then came up with an analogy involving horseback riding to describe how his views on marriage have changed over the past few years.
He said, ‘A few years ago, I realized I don’t like horseback riding. If there’s an opportunity to go horseback riding, I’m probably not going to do it. Now, I like horses! I think they’re beautiful. I like petting them.’
‘I like watching people ride horses, I like watching my kids ride horses. I just don’t really love riding horses. And once you know that, it just saves a lot of energy.’
‘So, yeah, I think we have a respect for the ways that we’re similar and the ways we’re different. And I think accepting that, you can really appreciate someone more because you’re not trying to get them to change for you. Once you accept that, you save a lot of energy.’
‘”This is something that works for me; this is something that doesn’t work for me.” If you have that trust level with your partner, you know that me saying “I don’t like doing that thing” is not me saying “I don’t like you.”‘
They have starred in multiple films together including Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Zoolander and Tropic Thunder; seen in 2001
They announced their separation back in 2017 after 17 years of marriage. The couple released a statement at the time about how they were going to try and remain friends.
‘With tremendous love and respect for each other and the 18 years we spent together as a couple, we have made the decision to separate,’ the statement said at the time.
‘Our priority will continue to be raising our children as devoted parents and the closest of friends. We kindly ask that the media respect our privacy at this time.’
The two met while filming a television pilot in 1999 for a show titled Heat Vision and Jack. They married the following year.
They have starred in multiple films together including Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Zoolander and Tropic Thunder.
