Ben Stiller Says Separation From Wife Helped Their Relationship

Fans were shocked when Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor announced in 2017 that they were separating after 17 years of marriage. In addition to having one of Hollywood's more enduring relationships, the pair had appeared in a number of projects together, including Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and Arrested Development.

However, five years later, Stiller revealed to Esquire that the pair had reconciled after he moved back into the family home during Covid lockdowns. "Over the course of time, it evolved. We were separated and got back together and we’re happy about that," he said at the time. "It’s been really wonderful for all of us. Unexpected, and one of the things that came out of the pandemic."

Now, speaking with the New York Times ahead of the highly-anticipated second season of Severance, which premieres on Jan. 17, the 59-year-old explained how their separation actually gave them a new lease on the relationship.

"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 recalled. "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."

Stiller said that it took nearly a year of living in the same house together before they were actually back together, and that he's so grateful for it. "I think not that many people do come back together when they separate," he added. "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."

Taylor likewise opened up about their separation during a March 2023 episode of The Drew Barrymore Show. She said that after meeting, they got engaged within six months and were married after a year, then had their oldest daughter, Ella, the following year.

"I think, for us, life just—especially in this business, and life, and careers, you know, a lot of work—family was always a priority, but I think Ben and I both started to grow in different directions," the 53-year-old said at the time. "And when we made the decision to separate, it was not something we wanted to talk publicly about, it was not something we took lightly either."

"It was sort of like, we're both at this impasse of, 'Let's figure this out what's best at this chapter in our lives?'" Taylor continued. "And that time apart, for each of us, to sort of get to know who we are? I think we have these growth spurts, even as adults. And I feel like we needed time to figure that out."

from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/8zalfEb