![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Ben-Stiller-on-Christine-Taylor-reconcilation-2170532525.jpg?crop=0px%2C195px%2C3050px%2C1722px&resize=400%2C225&quality=86&strip=all\")
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\n Related: <\/span>Ben Stiller Reflects on Years-Long Separation With Wife Christine Taylor<\/span><\/a>
\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n\t\t\tCourtesy Kennedy Pollard\/Getty Images for Don Julio Tequila After separating in 2017, it was several years before actors Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor reconciled. Now, after nearly 25 years of marriage, Stiller is opening up about their time apart and their decision to try again. While talking with The New York Times, Stiller discussed his [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Despite the project being a funny birthday present, Stiller said Cruise was a total \u201cprofessional\u201d during filming. \u201cIt blew my mind. He was so good and Brian did the speech to him,\u201d he shared. \u201cAnd we had so much fun doing that that [when] Tropic Thunder<\/em> came up, I called him and I said, \u2018Are you interested in this movie?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\nAccording to Stiller, a suggestion from Cruise significantly changed the 2008 comedy. \u201cHe looked at me and said, \u2018You make fun of the actors, you make fun of everybody and the agents and all that, but you don\u2019t make fun of the studio heads. You should have a studio head. So, it was his idea, that character,\u201d he revealed. \u201cThat character did not exist before he suggested it. And then, it became such an important part of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n![\"How](\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/how-ben-stiller-got-tom-cruise-to-be-in-home-video-for-wifes-birthday-inline.jpg?w=1000&quality=70&strip=all\")
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\n Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise.<\/span> Axelle\/Bauer-Griffin\/FilmMagic<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nStiller wore multiple hats on the set of Tropic Thunder<\/em>, acting as the film\u2019s star, director, cowriter and producer. Stiller starred as one of a handful of actors dropped into a real-life conflict while filming a war movie. Cruise, meanwhile, showed off his comedy chops and dance moves as the foul-mouthed studio executive Les Grossman.<\/p>\nStiller tied the knot<\/a> with Christine, 53, in 2000, and the two went on to welcome their daughter, Ella, and son, Quinlin, in 2002 and 2005, respectively. The pair called it quits<\/a> after 17 years of marriage in 2017 but never officially filed for divorce. Stiller and Christine rekindled their romance<\/a> while living together amid the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n\n
According to Stiller, a suggestion from Cruise significantly changed the 2008 comedy. \u201cHe looked at me and said, \u2018You make fun of the actors, you make fun of everybody and the agents and all that, but you don\u2019t make fun of the studio heads. You should have a studio head. So, it was his idea, that character,\u201d he revealed. \u201cThat character did not exist before he suggested it. And then, it became such an important part of the story.\u201d<\/p>\n Stiller wore multiple hats on the set of Tropic Thunder<\/em>, acting as the film\u2019s star, director, cowriter and producer. Stiller starred as one of a handful of actors dropped into a real-life conflict while filming a war movie. Cruise, meanwhile, showed off his comedy chops and dance moves as the foul-mouthed studio executive Les Grossman.<\/p>\n Stiller tied the knot<\/a> with Christine, 53, in 2000, and the two went on to welcome their daughter, Ella, and son, Quinlin, in 2002 and 2005, respectively. The pair called it quits<\/a> after 17 years of marriage in 2017 but never officially filed for divorce. Stiller and Christine rekindled their romance<\/a> while living together amid the coronavirus pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>
\n Ben Stiller and Tom Cruise.<\/span> Axelle\/Bauer-Griffin\/FilmMagic<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n