Ben Stiller Breaks Silence On ‘The Worst Decision I Ever Made’ As A Parent

Ben Stiller^[1]‘s love for perfectionism left this lingering pain in his heart.

The actor reflected on a crucial career decision he made, which now leaves him in an endless state of regret, as he feels he has cost his daughter an essential platform for her dreams to take off.

Ben Stiller has publicly shared some of his struggles with parenting, including instances where his daughter challenged him for being absent while she was younger.

The TV star described cutting off his daughter’s brief scene from his 2013 movie “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” as his worst mistake.

He admitted this to his daughter, Ella Olivia Stiller, that his constant need to achieve perfection, like his dad, whom the movie was about, affected his relationship with his children.

“I cut you out of Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It’s probably the worst decision I ever made in my life,” Stiller noted in the new documentary “Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost.”

Despite Stiller’s regret about the entire decision, his daughter, Ella, insisted that she harbored no resentment towards her father. As reported by Entertainment Weekly^[2], Ella revealed that she was terrified during the scene, albeit very brief.

She also concluded that the scene was not appropriate for the movie anyway, so that is good riddance. Stiller’s daughter appeared as the young Odessa Mitty in the film, who is the younger sister of Stiller’s father.

Stiller panned to his other child, Quinn, asking if he could relate to his sister’s story, prompting Quinn to explain that the actor’s drive could sometimes cause a strain on his family. 

“I think,there’s things, you know, after a tough day or something was going wrong, you can get very much in your own head.And I think, once you kind of go into that place… [it’s] hard to get you out of it,” Quinn explained.

The actor’s son noted that this attitude often casts a gloomy shadow over their family time together. The 20-year-old added that, due to Stiller’s commitment to many other roles in his life, such as acting, producing, and writing, being a father often comes last.

Three years ago, The Blast^[3] reported that the actor shared an instance where his daughter confronted him for being absent during their childhood. The TV star acknowledged that during the conversation, he was forced to face harsh truths about himself.

Ella’s revelation compelled Stiller to embark on a journey of introspection, during which he concluded that having a successful career is not equivalent to being a great father.

He explained that the reason he was absent at the time was to navigate his demanding career and the industry. “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,” Stiller noted.

The filmmaker concluded that, in the end, the children do not keep score on the success of a father’s career; instead, they judge through the lens of a parent who is more emotionally present and supportive.

PEOPLE^[4] shared in November 2024 that Stiller gushed about how his two children have grown so much to become actors whom he would love to work with. He described the projected process as fun and predicted that his kids would probably venture into directing and producing while he collaborates with them.

He also once raved about seeing himself in his kids, who have very unique and distinct personalities. The actor welcomed his two kids, Ella and Quinn, with his wife, actress Christine Taylor, in 2002 and 2005, respectively.

Since coming of age, Ella has stepped into daddy’s big shoes by featuring in a few productions, including an episode of the 2018 TV mini-series “Escape at Dannemora,” “Hubie Halloween,” andan uncredited appearance in Stiller’s 2014 film “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb.”

She also starred as a voice actor in 2010’s Megamind, and played the character Rizzo in her high school’s production of Grease, alongside several plays in N.Y.C.

As for Quinn, he has appeared on his dad’s animated project “Madagascar” as a voice actor, and on the November 2022 ad for “God of War Ragnarök on PlayStation. The commercial featured several famous faces, including LeBron and Bronny James, John Travolta, and even Ella.

Before the pandemic, which marked a turnaround in their marriage in 2020, life almost lost its beauty for Stiller. As reported by The Blast^[5], the media personality and his wife, Taylor, parted ways in 2017 in an announcement that shocked the world.

While they asked for privacy to navigate those trying times in their union, Stiller revealed that he was going through the worst behind the scenes. According to the actor, things became unbearably difficult for him, and he found himself increasingly sad despite the influx of growth in his career at the time.

He felt an unprecedented disconnect from his family, and everything felt entirely out of place, causing a strain in his bond with their two kids, whom they promised to co-parent.

Eventually, Stiller retraced his steps back to his roots and unlocked memories of how his parents, who were also famous actors in Hollywood, resolved their conflicts.

At the height of the pandemic, Stiller decided to move back home and work things out with his family- the ensuing result is the big happy family he has today.