Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller reunited during lockdown

Ben Stiller is opening up about his marriage to Christine Taylor and how their relationship has grown over time.

At the October 5 New York Film Festival premiere of his new documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, the Severance director reflected on what he learned about both his parents’ relationship and his own while making the film.

Stiller told PEOPLE, “I really appreciated being able to be at this point in our relationship where we can talk about all this stuff and how there were so many elements in our relationship that in a way mirrored my parents' relationship that I wasn't even aware of, and she's always had this amazing perspective on things like that."

He added, "And so I was just grateful that we were able to talk about this stuff and be here together now at this point in time.”

The documentary also features Stiller’s sister Amy, and his children with Taylor, Ella and Quin. Since the film was deeply personal, Stiller said that the whole family helped shape it.

“I would show them cuts of the movie and get their feedback on it both creatively because they're smart, receptive people and then also personally, just to feel that they were okay with this personal stuff that we were putting out there,” he said.

Stiller hopes that viewers will see parts of their own families in his story. “I think everybody understood the goal of what the film evolved into.” 

The 59-year-old added, “Which was to try to tell an honest portrait of a family dynamic that hopefully other people could relate to.”

Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor met while filming Heat Vision and Jack, married in 2000, separated in 2017 and reconciled in 2022 during the pandemic — the same time he worked on the documentary.

Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost opens October 17 in select theatres and starts streaming on Apple TV, October 24.