Ben Stiller Says His Daughter Dragged Him For Not Being Around When She Was A Kid

This week Ben Stiller’s interview with Esquire made headlines when he revealed that he and wife Christine Taylor got back together during the pandemic after separating in 2017. Now for another personal revelation from the interview: Ben says his daughter, 19-year-old Ella, called him out for not being around when she was a kid. 56-year-old Ben says Ella is “pretty articulate about it” (thanks, therapy!), and it’s not an easy thing to hear. He explains that he felt the same way about his own parents, late comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, and he always thought “Well I won’t do that.” Alas, Ben’s Hollywood dreams got in the way. Papa, can you hear me? Papa, can you see me? Papa, can you call me between takes on Little Fockers?

The Esquire piece notes that in the nineteen years since Ella was born (son Quinlin was born three years later), Ben has produced, directed, and acted in a shit ton of TV and movies, including three Night at the Museum movies, two Meet the Parents sequels, Dodgeball, Tropic Thunder, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Arrested Development, etc. etc. etc.:

He worked a lot. And lately, he and his daughter have been talking about that.

“She’s pretty articulate about it, and sometimes it’s stuff that I don’t want to hear. It’s hard to hear,” Stiller says. “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. But then 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.”

He adds:

“What I’ve learned is that your kids are not keeping score on your career,” he says. “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”—a deep, loud laugh—“for me to be going off and pushing the bounds of my creativity.”

Yeah, kids don’t really give a shit about their parents’ careers. As long as dad and mom can afford to buy them the latest TikToks and fidget spinners. On the plus side, Ben’s net worth of roughly $200 million can pay for a lifetime of Ella’s therapy. And those nepotism baby connections can help her go off and push the bounds of her creativity. And before she knows it, she’ll be neglecting her own kids. The cycle continues…

Pic: INSTAR