Ben Stiller Talks Life at Home After Reconciling With Wife Christine Taylor (Exclusive)

Ben Stiller is keeping it all in perspective. The Severance director reconciled with his wife, Christine Taylor, over the course of the pandemic, and couldn’t be happier about the direction his life has taken.

“I’m so happy where I’m at in my life and the fact that we're even able to be here together doing this right now, all those things are now not taken for granted,” Stiller told ET’s Denny Directo. “The whole last few years have been a time for everybody to kind of get in touch with a lot of that.” 

Stiller, 56, and Taylor, 50, announced their split in 2017, after 17 years of marriage, but neither officially filed for divorce. Stiller moved back into the family home during the COVID-19 pandemic to be with their two teenage children.  

While the pandemic offered some happiness for Stiller, it brought the loss of his father, Jerry Stiller, in 2020. Earlier this month, Jerry’s on-screen wife, Estelle Harris, on Seinfeld died at the age of 93. Stiller spoke with ET about his father's connection to his Seinfeld co-star.  

“I was just a fan and the chemistry she had with my dad was incredible,” he said. “I know he loved her very much and the way that they played off each other was -- you know. My dad had two wives in life. He had Estelle and he had my mom [Anne Meara], and he worked with both of them very well. So, it's really a loss and she was just a very special funny. She gave so much joy to so many people.” 

Stiller is also bringing joy, and a lot of questions to fans of the Apple TV+ series, Severance. The show, starring Adam Scott, was executive produced by Stiller and recently wrapped its first season. For Stiller, who stayed behind the camera, he’s enjoyed all of the fans' reactions.  

“I’ve been so excited to engage with the fans, especially on Twitter,” he shared. “How they've reacted in real time to the show. I’ve never had that experience really making something as a series where people are so invested in what's going to happen and have all these questions about where it's going to go." 

He continued, “Just that level of attention of detail that the audience has, ‘cause we put a lot of detail into the world and knowing that audiences are really smart. It’s really nice to feel that coming back.” 

As for season 2, fans may possibly see Stiller step in front of the camera. “It would be fun to be a part of this world,” he shared. “We're thinking about it a lot. We spent a lot of today talking about it. Dan Erickson, who created the show, has a lot of ideas that were laid to questions that were posed in the first season that we didn't quite answer.” 

Stiller’s expectation for season 2 is making the fans proud. “I think it's hopefully going to be the kind of show where you feel satisfied enough that you get answers to things that you're wondering about for a long time,” he said.  

“I want it to be something where people really feel as they're going through that they're in a world. They're not feeling like things are just being thrown at them for no reason.” 

The first season of Severance is currently streaming on Apple TV+.

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