Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor separated for five years. Then they were forced to live together.

Actors Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor have one of Hollywood's most enduring love stories.

The couple married in 2000 and share two children, daughter Ella and son Quinlin. After separating in 2017, they rekindled their relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic when Stiller moved back into the family home.

Christine has shared a reflection on the beginning of their love story, taking us back to when they planned that very first date in 1999.

They'd met on the set of Heat Vision and Jack, a sitcom Stiller was producing that never aired. At the time, There's Something About Mary had come out and Stiller attracted attention wherever he went.

"Ben and I went on our first date and Ben was 'Ben Stiller'," Taylor explained, adding that the buzz around his film "was huge."

They'd already "laughed a lot" on set and were both getting out of relationships when he asked her out. But with his public profile, Stiller was cautious about where they went out to dinner, wanting to keep a low profile.

"He was just like, 'Hey, I love the Valley. I don't go to a lot of restaurants in the Valley. Like, are there any good restaurants that you like over here?'

"What I was reading was like, 'This is a first date. The last thing we want is for paparazzi to catch a picture and there to be some sort of story'," she said. "It really made me laugh because he didn't think that I knew what he was saying."

Christine continued: "I wasn't offended because I was equally — talking about secrets — I wanted this to feel like a secret for me, in a way. I didn't want people to be intrigued or have opinions. I wanted it to be our thing. So I felt it was mutual."

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In a previous interview with The New York Times, the Severance actor explained that the time apart made their relationship stronger.

"When we separated, it was just having space to see what our relationship was, what my life felt like when we weren't in that relationship, how much I loved our family unit," he said.

"It was like three or four years that we weren't together, but we always were connected. In my mind, I never didn't want us to be together."

Stiller added: "I don't know where Christine was, you'd have to ask her, but COVID put us all together in the same house.

"I'm so grateful for it."

Ben previously said that it was pretty much love at first sight, when Christine Taylor, who is best known for playing Marcia Brady in The Brady Bunch Movie, walked onto the set of Heat Vision and Jack.

"When I met her, I pretty much thought, 'That’s the person,'" he said in a 2007 interview with Entertainment Tonight. "It was like, 'Wow, this is a great person. I love her.'"

Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor. Image: Getty.

In 2000, the pair got married in Kauai, Hawaii and continued to appear alongside each other in several movies, including Zoolander, DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, Dedication, Tropic Thunder and Friendsgiving.

They welcomed their first child, daughter Ella Stiller, in April 2002.

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In 2005, their second child, Quinlin, now 19, was born in their home city of New York.

After 18 years together, the couple announced their separation in 2017.

"With tremendous love and respect for each other, and the 18 years we spent together as a couple, we have made the decision to separate," they said in a joint statement.

"Our priority will continue to be raising our children as devoted parents and the closest of friends. We kindly ask that the media respect our privacy at this time."

And when they said they would continue to raise their children as devoted parents and the closest of friends... they actually meant it.

Between 2017 and 2019, Stiller and Taylor continued to amicably co-parent, attending events like the 2019 Emmys together and catching up for long lunches in New York City.

Then, in lockdown, the pair rekindled romantically.

Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor in 2024. Image: Getty.

In a 2022 profile with Esquire, Stiller opened up about their relationship, sharing that they decided it would be best for him to move back in to the pair's family home in the early months of lockdown so he could continue to see their kids.

"Over the course of time, it evolved," he shared.

"We were separated and got back together, and we're happy about that. It's been really wonderful for all of us. Unexpected, and one of the things that came out of the pandemic."

He described this time as an 'act of God', adding that it was almost a full year of living in the same house before they actually got back together.

Stiller said he was lucky to get the opportunity to see the relationship with fresh eyes.

"But I'm so grateful for it, and I think not that many people do come back together when they separate," he said. "There's nothing like that, when you come back. You have so much more appreciation for what you have, because we know we could not have it."

For her part, it seems Christine agrees.

Speaking on the Drew Barrymore Show in 2023, she said, "Family was always a priority, but I think Ben and I both started to grow in different directions…

"And [during] that time apart, we got to know who we are," she added. "I think we have these growth spurts, even as adults. And we needed time to figure that out."

This article was originally published in February 2022, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Getty.

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