Ben Stiller learned a tough lesson about his family life!
In an interview published by Esquire on Tuesday, the 56-year-old actor got candid about raising two children while building his career and how he may not have had the work-life balance down for years. Stiller actually revealed his 19-year-old daughter Ella Stiller called him out at one point for not being there for her as much as he should have been during her childhood – and the realization he admits was pretty “hard to hear.” He shared:
“She’s pretty articulate about it, and sometimes it’s stuff that I don’t want to hear. It’s hard to hear. Because it’s me not being there in the ways that I saw my parents not being there. And I had always thought, ‘Well, I won’t do that.’”
Related: Ben Stiller & Christine Taylor Really Are Back Together!
In case you didn’t know, Stiller is the son of legendary comedy duo Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller. Despite trying not to be an absent parent, the Night at the Museum star quickly realized that juggling a job and family life certainly is not as easy as it may seem! Stiller noted in the interview that it is “important to acknowledge” that he was pursuing his acting career during those years, saying:
“It’s that thing that, like, I was trying to navigate my own desire to fulfill the hopes and dreams I had, too. And that doesn’t feel great, but it’s important to acknowledge.”
However, he has come to realize that while he has a successful career, his daughters just wanted a present parent at the end of the day. The Zoolander star explained:
“What I’ve learned is that your kids are not keeping score on your career. It would be solipsistic to think that my kids actually care about that. They just want a parent who’s emotionally present and supportive of them. That’s probably what they want more than for me to be going off and pushing the bounds of my creativity.”
Truth. But now, it seems like he’s taking steps to make up for his past…
Stiller and his wife, who got married in May 2000 after less than one year of dating, announced their separation in 2017 after nearly two decades together. But the Emmy winner shared some exciting news about his family with Esquire this week – he and Taylor got back together! Calling their reunion “unexpected,” he said:
“We were separated and got back together and we’re happy about that. It’s been really wonderful for all of us. One of the things that came out of the [coronavirus] pandemic.”
Ah-mazing!!! As for what sparked the reconciliation, Stiller made an inneresting comparison to their “evolving” relation to his disinterest in horseback riding, reflecting:
“A few years ago, I realized I don’t like horseback riding. If there’s an opportunity to go horseback riding, I’m probably not going to do it. Now, I like horses! I think they’re beautiful. I like petting them. I like watching people ride horses, I like watching my kids ride horses. I just don’t really love riding horses. And once you know that, it just saves a lot of energy.”
He continued:
“I think we have a respect for the ways that we’re similar and the ways we’re different. And I think accepting that, you can really appreciate someone more because you’re not trying to get them to change for you. Once you accept that, you save a lot of energy. ‘This is something that works for me; this is something that doesn’t work for me.’ If you have that trust level with your partner, you know that me saying ‘I don’t like doing that thing’ is not me saying ‘I don’t like you.’”
It seems like Stiller has learned some valuable lessons over the years! Reactions to his daughter calling him out for being absent during her younger years, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments (below).
[Image via Ben Stiller/Instagram, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon/YouTube]
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