In my reading of your career, around 2010, a real shift occurs. You started less big, broad comedies and instead made movies like “Greenberg,” “While We’re Young” and “The Meyerowitz Stories.” You did “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” and “Brad’s States.” They’re all about middle-aged guys working through big questions. Was it a conscious decision to start doing a different kind of film? yes At that time I went back to New York. I’ve lived in LA for 20 years, and I want to spend more time at home and try to work closer to home. But for me, where it really changed in terms of my perspective was after “Zoolander 2.” It was kind of a feeling of, everybody wants it and I’m going to do it, and I enjoy doing it, and then nobody wants it! I was like, but you said you wanted it! And, really, was it that bad? This was where I was like, I have to make a choice. I want to do these other things and if someone is offering “Zoolander 3” I don’t want to go. But “Zoolander 2” gave me the gift no one offered me “Zoolander 3”. [Laughs.] Also, my marriage was not in a good place. A lot was happening.
You mentioned that your marriage was in a bad place. You and your wife, Christine Taylor, separated for a while and then reconciled. I saw him on Drew Barrymore’s talk show, and he presented the idea of separation and reconciliation that resulted in what he called the “growth spurt” of adults. What has been your growth spurt during this time? When we separated, there was space to look at what our relationship was, what my life felt like when we weren’t in that relationship, how much I loved our family unit. It was like three or four years when we weren’t together but we were always connected. In my mind, I never wanted us to be together. I don’t know where Christine was, you’ll have to ask her, but covid brought us all together in one house.
An act of God. yes It was about a year of living in the same house before we were really together. But I’m very grateful for that, and I don’t think a lot of people get back together when they break up. There is nothing like that, when you come back. You have a greater appreciation for what you have, because we know we didn’t have it.
My understanding is that you are working on a documentary about your parents, Anne Meera and Jerry Stiller, a comedy team. If people don’t know Tim, they definitely know that your dad played George Costanza’s dad on “Seinfeld.” yes
What did working on the documentary reveal about your understanding of your parents? I’m realizing it’s all about reflecting on my own issues that I have with them. I feel very fortunate that I have all the footage of my parents and our family on the Super 8 films that my father took and then I took and my father recorded. Just hours and hours, talking to my mom like she was sketching or coming up with ideas. Or sometimes he would record us just because he wanted to get our voices. I was thinking about this this morning: how much I love my dad but also the tension of not wanting to to be My father, but everybody loves my father. And as a son, I would love to be loved like my father because he was a loving person. But then there’s also the point, but I am. i.