Ben Stiller shares what he thinks he ‘got wrong’ while parenting his two kids

WASHINGTON: Actor and filmmaker Ben Stiller opened up about his experience with fatherhood and shares why he feels he “got wrong” as a parent, reported People. The actor and director recently spoke at the premiere of his new documentary, ‘Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost’, during the New York Film Festival.

The documentary explores his relationship with his late parents, famous comedy duo Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara also, it includes interviews with his own children, daughter Ella, 23, and son Quinlin (Quinn), 20, whom he shares with his wife, actress Christine Taylor, 54.

“They (Ella and Quinn) were very clear with me about what I got wrong”, he said. “And I really appreciated that, because it’s one of those things where you think you know, ‘Oh, I know what I’m putting out there to them’. But from their perspective, it was totally different”.

STILLER & MEARA: NOTHING IS LOST opens Friday!

Ben Stiller tells the story of his parents—comedy icons Jerry Stiller & Anne Meara—exploring their impact on pop culture and at home, where the lines between creativity, family, life and art often blurred. https://t.co/hsQsdLXdYm pic.twitter.com/QaSMqZ3LWx

— IFC Center (@IFCCenter) October 13, 2025

“And by the way, that’s exactly how it was with my parents”, Ben continued. “But, as the parent, I really couldn’t see that. So, to be able to interview them and talk to them about it and hear their honest feelings, and the fact that they were free enough and secure enough to just say what they thought, is something I really appreciated”.

In the documentary, Ben admitted that he often put work first.”There was this one time I was sitting in the kitchen with Quinn when he was little, and telling him I was going to do ‘Night at the Museum 3’, and I had to go to Canada for a few months. I just saw his face sort of drop, and he said, ‘I wish you could stay home’,” he recalled, adding, “And I remember pathetically, sort of saying, ‘But you love Night at the Museum’. But it didn’t matter to him”.

Ben went on to say that the “irony” is that he had the same experience with his own famous parents, but had assumed he was doing things “better,” as reported by People.

“The irony is, I thought I was doing so much better than my parents”, he said. “I thought I was pulling it off. I was flying home on the weekends and having special places for the kids to play when they would come visit the set, but in reality, and just hearing them talk about it … it was the same thing I was going through as a kid, and I just couldn’t see that at all at the time,” reported People.

‘Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost’ is set for a limited theatrical release on October 17. (ANI)