Ben Stiller knew early on that Christine Taylor was the one he would spend the rest of his life with.
The Zoolander star recently opened up about the moment he realized his now-wife was special, recalling that the feeling came to him naturally.
“It just occurred to me,” Stiller, 59, said The Wall Street Journal in a new interview.
“I thought, ‘Oh, I’m really happy to be with this person and we’re having fun together.’ It just felt like something instinctive.”
The Disconnection The creator met Taylor, 54, in 1999, and their connection was immediate. The couple tied the knot less than a year later and have shared both personal and professional chemistry ever since.
“Our shared sense of humor is key to our off-screen relationship,” Stiller said.
“If you have been with someone for years and experience the ups and downs of life, a sense of humor is the most important thing: being able to laugh together and wanting to hang out together.”
The couple has appeared together in several hit films over the years, including Zoolander, Dodgeball: a true underdog storyAnd Tropical thunder.
Reflecting on their on-screen dynamic, Stiller added, “When we work together on screen, it’s the same thing: She really makes me laugh.”
Stiller and Taylor share two children, daughter Ella Olivia and son Quinlin Dempsey, born in 2002 and 2005.
After almost twenty years of marriage, they announced their divorce in 2017, only to rekindle their relationship five years later.
“I’m so grateful for it, and I don’t think many people get back together when they break up,” Stiller said. The New York Times earlier this year.
“There’s no such thing when you come back. You have so much more appreciation for what you have because we know we couldn’t have it.”
In the same WSJ interviewthe actor reflected on his long career of writing Disconnection for Apple TV+ to team up with Ariana Grande in his upcoming comedy Focker-in-Law and making a cameo in one of SZA’s music videos.
He also laughed about his ‘short tenure’ Saturday evening livewhere he appeared in only four episodes.
On the other hand, Stiller also recently shared his belief regarding comedy, that comedy still has a responsibility to challenge boundaries, even as the world becomes more cautious about what can and cannot be said.
In a new interview with Radio timesthe Disconnection director reflected on how humor has evolved in the current political and cultural climate, recognizing that comedians face new challenges when it comes to expressing themselves freely.
“We live in a world where taking risks with comedy is more challenging,” Stiller said.
“You see that front and center in our country. But I think it is important that comedians continue to do what they do, speak truth to power and be free to say what they want. That is the most important thing.”
Known for pushing comedic boundaries throughout his career, Stiller’s comments highlight his belief that humor should continue to question norms rather than playing it safe.
