After they broke up in 2017, it’s been a few years before the actors Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor reconciled.
Now, after almost 25 years of marriage, Stiller opens up about their time apart and their decision to try again.
As we speak with New York TimesStiller discussed his marriage not being “in a great place” after moving from California back to New York following the release of Zoolander 2, a failure that “blindsided” Stiller.
“There was a lot going on,” Stiller said. “When we broke up, I just had a place to see what our relationship was like, what my life felt like when we weren’t in that relationship, how much I loved our family unit.”
“It was about three or four years that we weren’t together, but we were always in touch. “In my mind, I never wanted to be together,” he continued.
“I don’t know where Christine was, you’d have to ask her, but Covid got us all together in one house.”
When a NYT reporter David Marchese called the moment of their reconciliation “an act of God,” Stiller agreed.
“It was almost a year of living in the same house before we were together,” Stiller explained. “But I’m so grateful for that, and I don’t think a lot of people get back together when they break up.”
Stiller and Taylor have two children together: daughter Ella, 22, and son Quinlin, 19.
Stiller added, “There’s nothing like it when you come back. You appreciate what you have so much more because we know we couldn’t have it.
In conversation with Drew Barrymore in 2023Taylor said reconciliation during the pandemic “was about us.”
“We got married very quickly,” Taylor recalled of their 2000 nuptials. “We knew each other for six months, we got engaged. We were married within a year and then had Ella the following year.
“I think for us, just life, especially in this business and careers, a lot of work and family has always been a priority, but I think both Ben and I started to grow in different directions.”
At the time they decided to split, Taylor told Barrymore it was something they wanted to keep private because “it wasn’t something we took lightly.” But they were both at an “impasse” that required them to figure out what was best for each of them.
Taylor said the time apart to get to know who they are as individuals has allowed them to have “growth spurts even as adults.” It was time they both needed, she admitted, though they always “remained one family” despite being apart.
“We found that way back,” Taylor continued. “We had so much time to talk.”
