Inside Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor’s Road to Reunion

For Ben Stiller, there will always be something about Christine Taylor. 

The Severance director—whose show received a whopping 27 nominations at the 2025 Emmy Awards—doesn’t just know a thing or two about creating critically acclaimed TV. He also has learned some important lessons about love after famously reconciling with The Wedding Singer actress following their yearslong separation in 2017. 

In fact, Ben—who shares daughter Ella Olivia, 23, and son Quinlin Dempsey, 20, with Christine—has provided insight into why their breakup was important for building a stronger bond in their relationship. 

“When we separated, it was just having space to see what our relationship was, what my life felt like when we weren’t in that relationship, how much I loved our family unit,” he explained in an interview with The New York Times published Jan. 11. “It was like three or four years that we weren’t together but we always were connected.”

During their time apart, Ben always hoped to reunite with Christine, with whom he tied the knot in 2000. 

“In my mind, I never didn’t want us to be together,” the 59-year-old continued. “I don’t know where Christine was, you’d have to ask her, but COVID put us all together in the same house.”