Ben Stiller claims he ‘f**ked up’ as a father to his two children, but insists his separation from their mother was the best thing that could’ve happened to their family unit.
The actor and director will shine a light on his own complicated upbringing as the son of legendary comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara in forthcoming documentary, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost.
Released on October 17, the new film will document his parents’ hugely successful comedic partnership and the impact their soaring careers had on Stiller and his sister, Amy, who would often stay at home while the couple went out on tour.
‘It totally affected us,’ he recalled. ‘I just remember missing them terribly. And when they would come back, my sister and I would act out Jesus Christ Superstar or something in the lounge.
‘But, then, I probably f***ed up more with my kids than my parents did with us… my son tells me that being a dad might not have been at the top of my list.’
A father to children Ella, 23, and Quinn, 20, with actress wife Christine Taylor, Stiller admits managing his own career as a successful actor made it impossible to avoid the mistakes made by his own parents.
Ben Stiller claims he ‘f**ked up’ as a father to his two children, but insists his separation from their mother was the best thing that could’ve happened to their family unit (pictured in 2013)
Stiller admits managing his own career as a successful actor made it impossible to avoid the mistakes made by his own parents
He told the Sunday Times: ‘Like any parent, I remember things that weren’t happy about my childhood and go, “I’ll do better”. And then I realised it was impossible to avoid making the mistakes they made.
‘I feel like I have a really great relationship with my kids, but it’s complicated and has at times been strained.
‘When they were young, I did not get it. I thought, “Oh, the kids are young, I can work away and be a good dad earning for the family.”
‘But the bonds you form with your kids when they’re young are so important.’
The family unit was shattered in 2017 when Stiller and Taylor – his co-star in comedy classics Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and Zoolander – announced their separation after 17 years of marriage.
The couple would reunite in 2020 as the world adjusted to national lockdown restrictions prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, and Still believes the three year separation had a paradoxical effect on their relationship.
‘That was a strain on my relationship with the kids,’ he recalled. ‘And I’d think, “Well, my parents never did that.” But a long relationship is hard. You lose the freshness.
‘I feel bad about what us breaking up did to the kids, but it was possibly the best thing to happen to Christine and me. It changed our relationship. We don’t take it for granted any more, and if you are happy, you’re going to be a better parent.
The actor will shine a light on his own upbringing as the son of comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara in new documentary, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost (pictured: Stiller practices the violin for his parents in 1972)
(L-R) Anne Meara, Jerry Stiller, Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor attend an event in 2008
‘You have hurdles and try to figure it out, and if you stay, all you can do is acknowledge the past and try to repair.
‘That’s what we have in our family. It’s not perfect – at all. But that’s just life.’
Stiller previously recalled how he was inspired by his parents’ commitment to one another to never lose hope on the possibility of reconciliation while reuniting with his wife during the pandemic.
‘My dad was committed to turning their relationship into something that they could make a living doing a comedy act about,’ he told The Hollywood Reporter.
‘And my mom didn’t really love that as much, but she was really good at it, and that affected their relationship.’
Stiller starred alongside wife Taylor in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and Zoolander (pictured)
Stiller’s parents were a husband-and-wife comedy team that made frequent appearances on TV variety shows (Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller seen in 1979)
Ultimately, Stiller acknowledged he began to repeat some of his parents’ dynamics when it came to allowing his career impact his marriage.
‘You start making movies, and if they don’t go well, that would affect me,’ he said.
After he and Taylor separated in 2017, Stiller said he didn’t expect them ‘to get back together.’
‘When we broke up, there was a part of me that wasn’t ready to just give up on it. Probably a certain amount of that is having watched my parents,’ he admitted.
‘And I love Christine, I love my family, and I was not ready to just go, “OK, enough of this.”‘
Stiller’s parents stayed married from 1954 until her death in 2015. His dad passed five years later in 2020.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .