Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor’s Daughter Quotes Taylor Swift After Graduating From Juilliard
Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor’s 22-year-old daughter, Ella, used Taylor Swift lyrics to announce her college graduation.
Ella, who attended The Juilliard School in New York City, celebrated the milestone on Friday, May 24, writing via Instagram, “YOU WOULDN’T LAST AN HOUR IN THE ASYLUM (@juilliardschool) WHERE THEY RAISED ME."
The social media post was a reference to Swift's “Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?” track from her The Tortured Poets Department album.
“(No, like, really) Yesterday I got my BFA in Acting from Juilliard,” Ella continued. “I couldn’t be happier to be done or prouder to have survived or more grateful to my family for the unwavering support that got me there and through. I have a degree in playing pretend!!! Yay!!!”
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Stiller, 58, and Taylor, 52, who tied the knot in 2000, share Ella and Quinlin, 18. Before Ella made a rare red carpet appearance with her dad in 2022, Stiller revealed that his eldest child didn’t feel her parents were fully present while she was growing up.
“She’s pretty articulate about it, and sometimes it’s stuff that I don’t want to hear. It’s hard to hear,” Stiller told Esquire in February 2022. “Because it’s me not being there in the ways that I saw my parents [comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara] not being there. And I had always thought, ‘Well, I won’t do that.’”
He continued: “It’s that thing that, like, I was trying to navigate my own desire to fulfill the hopes and dreams I had, too. … What I’ve learned is that your kids are not keeping score on your career. It would be solipsistic to think that my kids actually care about that. They just want a parent who’s emotionally present and supportive of them. That’s probably what they want more than for me to be going off and pushing the bounds of my creativity.”
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Ben also reflected on his ups and downs with Taylor, which led to a brief separation before they rekindled their relationship. “We were separated and got back together and we’re happy about that,” he added at the time, noting that he moved back in with his wife. “It’s been really wonderful for all of us. Unexpected and one of the things that came out of the pandemic.”
Us Weekly confirmed their split after 17 years of marriage in 2017. At the time of their separation, the pair told Us in a joint statement that they would continue to coparent their children “as devoted parents and the closest of friends,” adding, “We kindly ask that the media respect out privacy at this time.”
Ben and Taylor rekindled their romance after four years apart and have since continued to make public appearances — with and without their kids. Taylor, for her part, has also shared new details about what led to her and Ben's split.
Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor’s Family Album With Daughter Ella and Son Quinlin: Photos
“Family was always a priority, but I think Ben and I both started to grow in different directions,” she explained on an episode of The Drew Barrymore Show in March 2023. “And when we made the decision to separate, it was not something we wanted to talk publicly about or took lightly. We were at this impasse of, ‘Let’s figure this out, what’s best at this chapter in our lives?’ That’s going back three or four years.”
The actress noted that she and Ben “got to know who we are” during their time apart, telling host Drew Barrymore, “I think we have these growth spurts, even as adults. And we needed time to figure that out. We always stayed a family unit.”
