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Topics: Celebrity, Parenting, Film and TV
Callum Jones
Topics: Celebrity, Parenting, Film and TV
Ben Stiller has opened up on how the 'worst decision' of his life damaged his relationship with his daughter for a considerable period of time.
The actor and comedian has quite the resume under his belt, including starring in the likes of There's Something About Mary and Meet the Parents.
Stiller's impressive work in Hollywood has seen him collect many awards, including three MTV Movie Awards and a Directors Guild of America Awards gong.
But away from the career, the 59-year-old has spoken openly about his personal struggles, including a distant relationship with his daughter, 23-year-old Ella.
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Stiller revealed in his new Apple TV documentary, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, that he axed his own daughter out of a role in his 2013 movie, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
While directing and starring in the adaptation of the 1939 James Thurber story, Stiller's daughter, Ella, was set to play a younger version of Odessa Mitty, the sister of his character, Walter Mitty.
Yet he confessed he 'cut' her out, which led to a 'damaged' relationship in the years that followed.
Discussing the move on SiriusXM’s The Howard Stern Show on Wednesday (October 22), Stiller said: "What a huge mistake. She was eight, Howard. She was eight.
"It just damaged our relationship for so many years. It was a good lesson for me. First of all, if you’re going to put your kid in something … put them in a scene you’re never going to cut no matter what."
Stiller opened up on his decision in the new documentary, explaining: "I cut you out of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. It’s probably the worst decision I ever made in my life."
Today, Ella shrugged off the move, telling her father that she recalled feeling 'really scared' during filming. Furthermore, Ella explained how the scene 'didn't make sense in the movie' anyway.
Despite all of that, Stiller is seemingly still beating himself up about the decision he made over a decade over.
He added: "For me, it kind of goes deeper. What it relates to is my own issues with my own obsession with my work, or 'perfectionism'."
“The irony is, I thought I was doing so much better than my parents. I thought I was pulling it off,” he continued as he reflected on growing up under the acclaimed comedy duo, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara.
“I was flying home on the weekends and having special places for the kids to play when they come visit the set, but in reality – and just hearing them talk about it – for them, it was the same thing I was going through as a kid, and I just couldn’t see that at all at the time.”