Ben Stiller says splitting up and getting back together with his wife helped him be a 'better parent'

"Like any parent, I remember things that weren't happy about my childhood and go, 'I'll do better,' Stiller said. "And then I realized it was impossible to avoid making the mistakes they made," he said. "When they were young, I thought, 'Oh, the kids are young, I can work away and be a good dad earning for the family.' But the bonds you form with your kids when they're young are so important.""

""But, then, I probably fucked up more with my kids than my parents did with us," he added. Stiller recalled casting his daughter in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" only to cut her scene from the final film. "My son tells me that being a dad might not have been at the top of my list," he said. Still, he says he feels regretful about how he handled certain things with his kids while they were growing up."

"The actor said he remembers his parents, comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, working long hours and being away from home for weeks at a time. "I just remember missing them terribly," Stiller, 59, told The Times. When he thinks about his own kids, Ella and Quinlin, whom he shares with his wife, Christine Taylor, Stiller says he's made similar mistakes."

Ben Stiller remembers his parents, comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, working long hours and being away from home for weeks, which left him missing them terribly. He recognizes that he repeated similar patterns with his own children, Ella and Quinlin, by prioritizing work and earning for the family. He admits he likely made more mistakes with his kids than his parents did. He recalls cutting his daughter's scene from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and acknowledges his son has felt fatherhood was not his top priority. A brief split from his wife before reuniting strained his relationship with the children.

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