Ben Stiller Talks Reconciling With Wife Christine Taylor Following Years-Long Separation: ‘Act of God’

After separating in 2017, it was several years before actors Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor reconciled.
Now, after nearly 25 years of marriage, Stiller is opening up about their time apart and their decision to try again.
While talking with The New York Times, Stiller discussed his marriage not being “in a great place” after moving from California back to New York following the release of Zoolander 2, a flop that “blindsided” Stiller.
“There was a lot going on,” Stiller said. “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.”

Related: Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor Rock the Red Carpet With Son Quinlin
“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,” he continued.
“I don’t know where Christine was, you’d have to ask her, but Covid put us all together in the same house.”
When NYT reporter David Marchese called the time of their reconciliation “an act of God,” Stiller agreed.

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“It was almost a year of living in the same house before we were actually together,” Stiller explained. “But I’m so grateful for it, and I think not that many people do come back together when they separate.”
Stiller and Taylor share two kids: daughter Ella, 22, and son Quinlin, 19.
Stiller 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.”
In a conversation with Drew Barrymore in 2023, Taylor said the reconciliation during the pandemic “was for us.”
“We got married very quickly,” Taylor recalled of their 2000 wedding. “We knew each other six months got engaged. We were married within a year, and then had Ella the next year.”
“I think of us, life just, especially in this business and careers, a lot of work and family was always a priority, but I think Ben and I both sort of started to grow in different directions.”

Related: Christine Taylor Details 'Impasse' That Led to Ben Stiller Separation
At the time they decided to separate, Taylor told Barrymore that it was something they wanted to keep private because it “was not 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 that time apart to get to know who they were as individuals, allowed them to have “growth spurts even as adults.” It was time they both needed, she admitted, even though they always “stayed a family unit” despite being separated.
“We found this way back,” Taylor continued. “We had so much time to talk.”