Christine Taylor has shared a rare insight into how she and her husband Ben Stiller rebuilt their marriage after their five-year split.
The actress, who separated from the Zoolander actor in 2017 after 17 years of marriage, said the decision to split was one of the hardest either of them had ever made.
“I can talk about it now, but in the moment, it was very difficult to come to that decision,” Taylor said on the McBride Rewind podcast.
Watch the video above.
Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor spent five years apart before reuniting. WireImage
“It was not light. It was not without a heavy heart.”
The couple, who share daughter Ella, 24, and son Quinlin, 20, announced their separation nearly a decade ago, but continued to co-parent and spend time together as a family.
Taylor said their turning point came during the COVID-19 pandemic when they found themselves under the same roof again.
“If there’s a silver lining for us during COVID, that was the little gift,” she said.
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Stiller and Taylor have been married since 2000. Getty
“We all kind of bubbled up together with our kids.”
During lockdown, Taylor said she and Stiller finally had the time to focus on their relationship.
“So Ben and I spent a lot of time just working on us with a therapist and we’d log into Zoom and we’d do our therapy sessions and really found the way back,” she explained.
Stiller and Taylor first met in 1999 when she was asked to audition for a TV pilot Stiller was directing called Heat Vision and Jack. They got married the following year.
Over the past two decades, they have appeared together in a string of projects including Zoolander, Dodgeball and Arrested Development.
The two were considered one of the tightest couples in Hollywood before announcing their shock split.
The actress said separation can often feel like a personal failure, which is why she is so open about the difficult time.
“I think it’s something people don’t love to talk about because it feels like a failure,” she said.
Stiller and Taylor sharing a moment together at the 2022 US Open. GC Images
Instead, Taylor believes taking time apart ultimately strengthened their marriage.
“We came out of it and have been really stronger and better than ever.”
In 2022, Stiller revealed the pair had rekindled their relationship, telling Esquire, “We were separated and got back together and we’re happy about that. It’s been really wonderful for all of us.
“Unexpected, and one of the things that came out of the pandemic.
