Together again! Ben Stiller‘s split from Christine Taylor “was a serious eye-opener” for the actor, a source exclusively reveals in the new issue of Us Weekly.
The twosome “weren’t seeing eye to eye on a number of things” before announcing their separation in May 2017 after 18 years together. “The split was a long time coming,” the insider adds, noting that both the Zoolander star, 56, and the Craft actress, 50, were “hoping for change” before calling it quits.
In February, however, Stiller told Esquire that he and Taylor were giving their marriage another try. “It’s been really wonderful for all of us,” he gushed of the “unexpected” reconciliation.
The Dodgeball costars tied the knot in 2000 and share two children: Ella, 19, and Quinlin, 16. According to the source, the teens were a large part of why the couple chose to reunite.
“He missed [Christine] terribly and hated the idea of their kids growing up in a broken home,” the insider tells Us, adding that Stiller realized “what he’d lost” after the split.
The Night at the Museum actor took the time for “a lot of self-evaluation during the [coronavirus] pandemic,” the source notes. “He made a conscious effort to stop sweating the small stuff and figure out how to channel his energy whilst compromising with Christine on those issues that really didn’t matter at the end of the day.”
Before officially confirming that they got back together, Stiller and the Brady Bunch Movie star attended multiple events as a pair, including the 2019 Emmys, where they posed for photos on the red carpet. An eyewitness later told Us that the duo looked “happy” and never left “each other’s sides” during the awards show.
Stiller and Taylor met while filming a 1999 TV pilot called Heat Vision and Jack. While the series never made it to air, the Escape at Dannemora director knew he’d found The One.
“When I met her, I pretty much thought, ‘That’s the person,'” he told Entertainment Tonight in 2007. “It was like, ‘Wow, this is a great person. I love her.'”
Upon announcing their split in 2017, the frequent collaborators noted in a joint statement, “Our priority will continue to be raising our children as devoted parents and the closest of friends.” One year later, Taylor swiftly dodged a question about potentially reuniting with the Meet the Parents star.
“We’re a big family. We’re together all the time,” she exclusively told Us in October 2018, saying she and Stiller had a “nice” dynamic after the breakup. “It’s wonderful, it’s wonderful.”
For more on what prompted the pair’s reconciliation, watch the video above and pick up the latest issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands now.
