Christine Taylor revealed that her husband, Ben Stiller, pulled off a surprise proposal while filming “Meet the Parents” — and it had a sweet connection to the movie’s plot.
The “Brady Bunch Movie” star told Page Six that Stiller was preparing to pop the question while shooting the 2000 comedy, just as his character, Greg Focker, was planning to do the same.
“The story is simultaneous [with our lives],” Taylor told Page Six at the “Focker-in-Law” premiere on Wednesday. “He was getting ready to propose to me as he was shooting. He was literally asking my dad for my hand in marriage, unbeknownst to me, so it was a little bit of life imitating art.”
“But as Ben has said before, my dad wasn’t quite as intimidating as Bob De Niro’s character!” she joked.
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection
Taylor, 55, revealed that Stiller, 60, surprised her while she was in Los Angeles and she believed he was in New York rehearsing for “Meet the Parents.”
Unbeknownst to her, the “Zoolander” star had flown to LA and arranged for her friends and family to gather at her home while she was at the movies.
“I was driving to my house, and oh, my garage clicker isn’t working, and oh, shoot, I’ve got to park the car and go in the front door, and when I started to walk up the front steps, the door was open, rose petals were lining the rooms,” Taylor remembered.
“He had flown in; my whole family was involved. I couldn’t believe it,” she added. “I really pride myself on…it’s very hard to surprise me, let’s put it that way.”
“It was absolutely perfect in every way. It was so beautiful.”
The couple met on set in 1999 and tied the knot the following year. They share two children, daughter Ella, 24, and son Quinn, 21, and have starred in several movies together, including “Zoolander.”
They separated in 2017 but later reconciled after living together during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In an interview earlier this year, Taylor revealed that the pair “found the way back” to each other after they devoted “a lot of time” to working on their relationship with a therapist.
“I think it’s something people don’t love to talk about because it feels like a failure.”
“Meet the Parents” spawned two sequels, 2004’s “Meet the Fockers” and 2010’s “Little Fockers.”
The latest installment, “Focker-in-Law,” hits theaters on Thanksgiving and reunites original cast members Robert De Niro, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo and Owen Wilson, alongside newcomer Ariana Grande.
Other stars at Wednesday’s premiere, held at New York City’s Beacon Theatre, included Mike Myers, Adam Scott, Rosanna Arquette, Jon Cryer and Rachel Zegler.
