In 2017, Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor separated after 17 years of marriage. There wasn’t anything messy or scandalous about it. At the time, they explained that it was due to their work schedules keeping them apart. Then, in 2022, they announced that their time apart had done them some good, and they had fully reconciled. In 2023, Christine went on The Drew Barrymore Show and talked about their separation and decision to reconcile, explaining that they had grown “in different directions.” During their separation, they learned more about who they were as individuals, which allowed them to talk things through while they were quarantining together during the pandemic.
Ben shared his side of the story in an interview with the New York Times this past weekend. Although their reconciliation wasn’t immediate, he’s “grateful” that they were able to work things out and has “so much more appreciation” for what they have together now.
Ben Stiller shed some light on his yearslong breakup from wife Christine Taylor and what ultimately brought them back together as a 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,” Stiller explained of their 2017 split in an interview with The New York Times published Jan. 11. “It was like three or four years that we weren’t together but we always were connected.”
The Severance director added that, from his perspective, his separation from Taylor—with whom he shares Ella, 22, and Quinlin, 19—was never intended to be permanent.
“In my mind, I never didn’t want us to be together,” Stiller—who married his Zoolander costar in 2000—said. “I don’t know where Christine was, you’d have to ask her, but COVID put us all together in the same house.”
The Dodgeball actor pointed to being back under the same roof again starting in 2020 as a turning point in their relationship, which offered the then-estranged couple an opportunity to reconnect.
“It was almost a year of living in the same house before we were actually together,” Stiller shared. “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,” he continued. “You have so much more appreciation for what you have, because we know we could not have it.”
I did not realize that they had been separated for five years before getting back together! I thought it was like two, three tops. I am really happy for Ben and Christine, though. I know they are the exception and not the rule, but it’s great that they were able to take time to address the underlying issues, including getting to know the people they had grown into rather than trying to fix one another. It’s also crazy that they were able to work out their issues during quarantine. It’s almost like they did the reverse as what so many other couples ended up doing after being stuck together for so long.
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I’m glad they were able to work things out. It’s nice to see a happy ending after a separation. It doesn’t happen often.
omg normalize THIS. THIS is what I want. I think more of us should be able to take breaks from our marriages without walking away completely, allowing time for growth. I’m kind of doing this right now in a relationship and I’d love to see it become just…something that people do, intentionally. I feel like the culture has become one of “thank u, next”, as we all churn through relationships trying to find the perfect person. The longer a relationship lasts, the more likely you’re going to change (which then impacts the relationship). As a culture, I’d like to see us value growth separately and then together – like make that a goal.
I’ve never heard negative stories come out about Ben Stiller, and he’s worked a lot at times. He seems to have some emotional maturity and awareness, as in not the kind of person buying into their own press/position, etc.
Actually I heard a few stories about Ben being a little ragey and having a temper. Always wondered if Christine was like “I’m not having this around the kids anymore” and he realized he needed to change.
I think they moved in together for the pandemic in 2020 – same house separate wings or something – but by 2022 realized they were back together for real.
omg, I am all about this…awesome!!!!!
I have heard that the statistics on remarriages ending in divorce are really really high, but I really hope that is not the case for them. They seem like they really did the work to understand why they grew apart the first time and how to grow back together.
This is true and for good reason. After many years (6) of being divorced you forget all the reasons why you left him. When my daughter and her ex tried to get back together it didn’t take long for her to remember all the cr-p he put her through, it was “same song, second verse” .
This makes me so happy to hear. My older sister used to work in a coffee shop in Union Square years and years ago and she said that the two of them always came in together and were always super friendly and polite.
I totally think this was a case of a male FAFO mid-life crisis. Nice to know that there are men who get back to reality and find new appreciation for what they had. Maybe he got lucky Covid made them co-habitate.