Ben Stiller candidly addressed comments made by his children, who said their famous father was barely around when they were growing up.
Proving that even comedy legends have tough days at home, the 59-year-old actor said he did “worse” than his own parents when it came to raising his two children, Ella, 23, and son Quinlin, 20, with wife Christine Taylor.
Highlights
- Ben Stiller said he probably did a worse job with parenting his kids than his own famous parents did with raising him.
- His daughter Ella, 23, and son Quinlin, 20, recently spoke about how he was barely around when they were growing up.
- The 'Night at the Museum' star addressed their comments in an interview.
Ben Stiller addressed recent comments made by his children, who said he was never at home when they were growing up
Image credits: The View
Ella and Quinlin, who have both played small roles in movies, spoke about their father in the documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost.
The documentary focuses on the behind-the-scenes dynamics of stars Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara with their son Ben Stiller. Viewers also got a glimpse of Ben’s relationship with his own two adult children.
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The two children called their father out for apparently prioritizing his professional life over parenting them. “I literally can’t ever remember you being around when I was growing up,” Ella told her father in the documentary.
When Ben turned towards Quinlin and asked if he felt the same way, the son shared similar thoughts.
Ben's adult children made the comments in a documentary about the actor's famous parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara
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“After a tough day, or if something was going wrong, you can kind of get into your own head and when you get into that place, it’s hard to get you out of it,” the son explained. Those days would “put a damper” on the “fun part of being on vacation,” the son said.
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In one scene in the documentary, Ben recalled a time when he had to tell his son he wouldn’t be at home for months while filming Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.
“I wish you could stay home,” the young boy replied to Ben with a fallen face.
The Dodgeball star said he tried to parent his kids better than the way his own parents raised him
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Elsewhere in the documentary, Quinlin said it felt like being a father came “last” in the many roles his dad had to prioritize.
“You have all these hats that you’re trying to balance, you know? Being a director, an actor, a producer, a writer,” he said.
Image credits: Apple TV+
“But also just, like, a father, right? And sometimes I felt that that would come, you know, last to these other things,” he added.
Ben, who said he felt “stress and tension” while growing up with his own famous parents, said the “irony” was that he thought he was doing “so much better” than Anne and Jerry.
Son Quinlin said being a father appeared to be the “last” in the many roles his dad prioritized
Image credits: Apple TV+
“I thought I was pulling it off,” he said in the documentary.
“I was flying home on the weekends and having special places for the kids to play when they come visit the set, but in reality, and just hearing them talk about it for them, it was the same thing I was going through as a kid, and I just couldn't see that at all at the time,” he added.
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During an appearance on The View on Thursday, October 23, Ben spoke about how his own kids were beginning to experience what the life of an actor is like.
With the making of the documentary, he was able to discuss with his children how certain things get handed down “cyclically” and “generationally.” “You want to do better than your parents but then in some places you do better - sometimes you do worse. It's that struggle we all go through,” he said on the show.
“I probably f***ed up more with my kids than my parents did with us,” the comedian said
Image credits: Stefanie Keenan/Oscars/Getty Images
Since addressing the subject on camera during the filming of the documentary, the Dodgeball star said he and his kids have been revisiting the topic.
“I probably f***ed up more with my kids than my parents did with us,” he admitted while speaking to the Sunday Times earlier this month.
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“My son tells me that being a dad might not have been at the top of my list,” he added. The Zoolander star and his longtime wife Christine tied the knot in 2000.
They welcomed Ella in 2002 and then Quinlin about three years later.
Ben briefly separated from his wife Christine Taylor but rekindled their romance during the pandemic
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The parents separated for a brief period in 2017 but decided to quarantine together during the Covid-19 pandemic.
They reconciled at the time and have stayed together ever since.
Image credits: The View
After rekindling their romance, Ben said he no longer takes his partner’s love “for granted.”
“You know it could go away,” he said on The View during a January appearance.
“We don’t come with rule books and do the best we can,” one commented online
