In this deeply personal episode of Impossible Dreams, host Aaron Lazar sits down with Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor for an intimate conversation about resilience, relationships, and finding your way back to what matters most.
Ben and Christine open up about their journey through separation and reconciliation, the challenges of balancing demanding careers with family life, and how personal growth sometimes requires taking space to evolve. From their excitingly quick romance to navigating the pressures of Hollywood while raising two kids, they share hard-won wisdom about communication, self-awareness, and the practice of staying present.
Aaron connects with Ben and Christine through their shared involvement with Project ALS—the groundbreaking research organization co-founded by Jennifer Estess after her 1997 diagnosis. Ben reflects on 25+ years of friendship with Jennifer and the organization's mission, while Aaron expands on his ALS journey and unconventional healing approach. Together, they explore themes of hope in the face of devastating diagnoses, the limitations of Western medicine, and the power of community and love.
From Ben's work on the documentary about his legendary parents (Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller) to Christine's reflections on prayer and meditation, this conversation weaves together Hollywood stories with profound spiritual insights. Plus: the Hawaiian shirt incident at their wedding, why their separation ultimately strengthened their family, and the impossible dream of a Sedona river trip.
Guest Bios:
Ben Stiller is an Emmy Award-winning director, producer, and actor known for films including Zoolander, There's Something About Mary, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Tropic Thunder, Cable Guy and countless others. He directed the acclaimed limited series Escape at Dannemora, as well as the award winning and instant obsession, Severance, and just released Stiller and Meara: Nothing is Lost, his documentary about his parents, comedy legends Anne Meara and Jerry Stiller. Ben has been a longtime supporter of Project ALS and numerous humanitarian causes.
Christine Taylor is an actress best known for her roles in The Brady Bunch Movie, A Very Brady Sequel, Zoolander, Dodgeball, and Arrested Development. She has been a dedicated supporter of Project ALS and is passionate about meditation, prayer, and conscious parenting.
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Presented by the ALS Network
Produced by EVRYBDY Studios
Learn more at Aaron Lazar
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YouTube: @ALImpossibleDreams
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Episode Navigation:
01:19 - Aaron's connection with Christine through Project ALS and Ben's 25+ year friendship with co-founder Jennifer Estess
02:27 - How Naked Angels Theater Company connected Ben to the ALS community in 1997
04:18 - The importance of bedside manner: Ben's prostate cancer diagnosis and finding the right doctor
07:17 - The 62 reversals of ALS that nobody talks about—and why the medical community ignores them
09:32 - Christine on Aaron's unstoppable year: Grammy nomination, podcast, talks, and beating the odds
13:40 - What's more impossible: Building Hollywood careers or sustaining a marriage in the chaos?
15:19 - Ben on self-awareness, evolution, and the learning curve of balancing relationship and career
16:46 - The whirlwind romance: Engaged in six months, married within a year, baby on the way
17:34 - The Hawaiian shirt incident and other wedding weekend stipulations
19:16 - The first year with a baby: When Ben worked non-stop thinking "how big a deal could it be?"
20:50 - Repeating what your parents did: Ben's parents' 60-year marriage and getting married after knowing each other briefly
27:04 - Aaron's son Adrian facing fears: The three-week Durango adventure with no phones
30:12 - The reentry challenge: When the "triangle" becomes a "square" again
33:08 - Robbie (producer) chimes in: His own separation and reconciliation journey
40:31 - Ella's perspective: When their daughter's first heartbreak helped her understand her parents
42:42 - Ben's advice about marriage: You don't know who you'll be in 10 years—acknowledge where you are NOW
46:22 - Christine asks about Aaron's spiritual practice and how he trained himself to stay in the now
50:13 - Ben on Western medicine's blind spots and the "greater nature of reality we don't understand"
52:15 - The Walter Mitty connection: Co-creating your life and the hero's journey
54:06 - Christine on prayer vs. meditation: "Prayer is talking, meditation is waiting for the answer"
56:08 - The core of it all: We're here to love—that's what humans are meant to do
56:35 - Aaron's fan-out moment: How Ben's parents shaped a generation of comedy
59:55 - Directing from fear: Ben's honest admission about his process
1:02:06 - The Escape at Dannemora "oner" shot: 12 pieces stitched together over 7 months
1:06:58 - Robbie's Cable Guy interruption: "Center!" (The famous porno password scene)
1:08:21 - Final question: Any impossible dreams on the horizon?
1:09:19 - Christine's impossible dream: The Sedona river trip she's never taken
1:10:43 - Ben: "Maybe you could help me learn how to sing someday"1;11;03 - Aaron's origin story: The night The Impossible Dream stopped the show and changed everything
