Washington DC [US], October 17 : Ben Stiller is sharing what he learned through the process of making his new documentary, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost. During the New York Film Festival premiere of his latest project, the 'Severance' director opened up about what he learned about both his parents' relationship and his own marriage throughout the process of making the film, reported People.
"I really appreciated being able to be at this point in our relationship where we can talk about all this stuff, and how there were so many elements in our relationship that in a way mirrored my parents' relationship that I wasn't even aware of," he told PEOPLE of Taylor, whom he married in 2000. "And she's always had this amazing perspective on things like that. And so I was just grateful that we were able to talk about this stuff and be here together now at this point in time."
Along with Ben's sister Amy Stiller and Taylor, the couple's children Ella, 23, and Quin, 20, also appear in the film. Given that the project was so personal, when it came to choosing which bits to include in the final cut, Stiller said that his whole family was involved.
"I would show them cuts of the movie and get their feedback on it both creatively because they're smart, receptive people and then also personally, just to feel that they were okay with this personal stuff that we were putting out there," he told the outlet.
Stiller hopes that in telling the story of his own family, others might see bits of their own.
"I think everybody understood the goal of what the film evolved into," Stiller said of working with his family on the project. "Which was to try to tell an honest portrait of a family dynamic that hopefully other people could relate to."
Stiller and Taylor also talked about the early stages of their relationship after first meeting while filming a TV pilot called Heat Vision and Jack. After watching his parents navigate being in a relationship and raising a family while also working together, Ben remembers thinking, "I don't want to become my parents," reported People.
He and Taylor wed in 2000 but made the decision to split up in 2017, telling People in a statement: "With tremendous love and respect for each other, and the 18 years we spent together as a couple, we have made the decision to separate."
However, in 2022, Stiller revealed in an interview that the couple had rekindled their romantic relationship during the pandemic, while he was also making the documentary.
"There was sort of this coming together," he says in the film. "Us talking about what we were going through, our issues, and looking at what my parents had been through, too, in a way I hadn't looked at it before."
Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost will screen in select theatres beginning on October 17 and will be available to stream on Apple TV on October 24, reported People.
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