Actors Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor announce their shock split after 17 years of marriage

AFTER 17 years of marriage, actors Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor have revealed they’re calling it quits.

BEN Stiller and his wife and actress Christine Taylor have announced they’re separating after 17 years of marriage.

The actors revealed they were calling it quits in a joint statement to ETwriting, “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”.

“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,” they added.

The couple have two children. A daughter named Ella, 15, and a son named Quinlin, 11.

Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor with their children Quinlin and Ella. Picture: Dimitrios Kambouris

Stiller and Taylor met while filming a pilot for the TV show Heat Vision and Jack.

While the show never made it to air, something good clearly came out of it because they were married less than a year later in May, 2000 in an oceanside ceremony.

The couple have since appeared in numerous movies together including Zoolander, Dodgeball, Tropic Thunder and Zoolander 2.

Stiller and Taylor were last photographed at this year’s Met Gala in New York held earlier this month.

Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor at this year’s Met Gala held on May 2. Picture: Larry Busacca

The couple regularly spoke about their happy marriage in interviews telling ETin February last year that working together on movies had strengthened their relationship.

“It’s the best. I mean, I think that, you know, the reality is there’s such an unspoken connection,” Taylor told the publication. “I feel like for us, when we first met, it was on set ... He’s amazing.”

“[Having a] sense of humour [is the secret to our marriage],” she added. “I have to say, sense of humour is the greatest thing.”

“I say that’s the secret to a happy marriage anywhere in any city, not just Hollywood,” Stiller said.

“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 humour about it. If you can share that, at the end, it makes a huge difference.”

Originally published as Actors Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor announce their shock split after 17 years of marriage