After 17 years of marriage, couple and frequent co-stars Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor announced that they're splitting up in an exclusive interview with Entertainment Tonight. Stiller and Taylor made a joint statement to the outlet on Friday.
"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," their statement reads. "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."
The couple shared the screen on numerous occasions over the years in movies including Zoolander, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, Tropic Thunder with the most recent being, Zoolander 2 last year. Stiller and Taylor first met in 1999 while on set for a never-broadcast TV pilot directed by Stiller called Heat Vision and Jack. They married one year later in a private ceremony in Kauai, Hawaii.
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"When I met her, I pretty much thought, 'That's the person,'" Stiller told ET in a 2007 interview. "It was like, 'Wow, this is a great person. I love her.'"
"It's the best. I mean, I think that, you know, the reality is there's such an unspoken connection," shared Christine Taylor when explaining what it was like for the couple to work together on set in February 2016 while promoting Zoolander 2. In the same interview, Ben Stiller shared the same sentiment as his then wife of 15 years. "I say that's the secret to a happy marriage anywhere in any city, not just Hollywood," Stiller added. "I think you got to laugh, because after a while, you know, life is life. We all have to deal with what life throws at us, so you got to have a sense of humor about it. If you can share that, at the end, it makes a huge difference."
The two have been through a lot together. Just late last year, Stiller revealed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer two years earlier.
Together, the couple has two children daughter Ella Olivia, 15 and son Quinlin Dempsey, 12. In their joint statement, they made it clear that they intend to co-parent their children.
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