Ben Stiller recalls daughter called out him for ‘not being there’ during childhood

Ben Stiller recently revealed that his 19-year-old daughter Ella once called out the actor for ‘not being there’ when she was growing up.

During his conversation with Esquire, the Zoolander actor admitted that his daughter was not satisfied with his parenting.

“She’s pretty articulate about it, and sometimes it’s stuff that I don’t want to hear. It’s hard to hear,” Stiller shared. 

“Because it’s me not being there in the ways that I saw my parents not being there. And I had always thought, Well I won’t do that.”

The Meet the Parents actor explained, “But then it’s that thing that, like, I was trying to navigate my own desire to fulfill the hopes and dreams I had, too. And that doesn’t feel great, but it’s important to acknowledge.”

He said that kids do not ‘care’ about their parents’ career as they long for ‘emotional support.’

“That’s probably what they want more than for me to be going off and pushing the bounds of my creativity,” Stiller added.