Ben Stiller’s daughter Ella reveals surprising career move

Ben Stiller’s daughter Ella comes from an acting dynasty that rivals some of Hollywood’s most famous families.

The 22-year-old, whom Ben shares with his wife Christine Taylor, is making a major step in her career in 2025, but not in the way many might think.

While Ben and Christine, as well as his parents Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, are TV and film legends, Ella has chosen to take her talent to the stage, landing an Off-Broadway role that is sure to catapult her to new heights.

She has joined the cast of Before This New Year, a play written by Liana Sonenclar set to premiere at NYC’s The Duke on 42nd Street on April 4, according to People.

Ella will star alongside House of the Dragon actress Emily Carey, as well as Naomi alum Kaci Walfall. The play will follow two former track teammates as they face their feelings for each other and grapple with their life choices.

Ben and Christine’s eldest daughter graduated from Juilliard in May with an acting degree and shared her excitement on the special day.

“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,” she wrote on Instagram, before adding: “I have a degree in playing pretend!!! Yay!!!”

The Night at the Museum star gushed about his daughter’s talent for acting on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, sharing how she knew from a young age that her path lay in showbiz.

“She loves it and she’s very passionate about it and she knows what she wants to do,” he said.

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“I knew when I was 10 or 11 years old that I wanted to direct movies and eventually act too. It’s a crazy business…and I just want to support her in it in any way possible, legally.”

Ella already has a growing resume with a role in Escape at Dannemora in 2018, Hubie Halloween in 2020 and a handful of voice acting credits.

Although she is making the jump to the stage, Ella may still join her dad on the silver screen in the future.

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“Both my kids are actors and not really kids anymore,” he told E! News in 2024. “And they’re both really good, so it’d be fun to work with them. I have done a couple of little things with them, but I’d love to. It’d be really fun.”

He added: “I think eventually they’ll probably be directing and producing stuff that I’ll be asking them to cast me in. That’s how it goes.”

Ben and Christine also share a son, Quinlin, whom they welcomed in 2005. He, along with his sister, had minor roles in Ben’s hit movie Madagascar.

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The Stiller children are Ben’s first port of call when it comes to constructive criticism, particularly for his Apple TV+ series Severance.

“My kids were sort of the first test screening for me in terms of when I was editing episodes,” he told People. “I would show them and they started to get into it…to have them as kind of a focus group to see what they reacted to. It was good. It was fun to share it with them.”