Ben Stiller's Son Quin Candidly Tells His Dad He Feels He Sometimes Put Being a Father 'Last' in New Documentary

Quin Stiller is comfortable being honorable pinch his dada astir his shortcomings.

While looking back at nan lives of his celebrated parents Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara for nan caller documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, Ben Stiller also examines his narration pinch his ain children done honorable conversations caught connected camera. 

One particularly poignant moment comes erstwhile Stiller's boy Quin, 20, whom he shares pinch woman Christine Taylor, says he sometimes felt Stiller, 59, did not prioritize fatherhood. (Stiller and Taylor besides stock girl Ella, 23.)

“You person each these hats that you're trying to balance, you know, being a director, an actor, you know, a producer, a writer, but also, conscionable for illustration a father, right? And sometimes I felt that that would come, you know, past to these different things,” he says successful nan documentary while sitting crossed from his father. 

During a Q&A astatine nan Oct. 5 New York Film Festival premiere of nan film, Stiller said of nan revelation: “As a filmmaker, I'm like, ‘Oh this is simply a bully infinitesimal for nan movie,’ you know. As a personification I'm like, ‘That sucks.’ ”

Elsewhere successful nan film, Stiller talks pinch his boy astir what aspects of his begetter he sees successful himself, particularly erstwhile it comes to managing fatherhood and fame. During nan sitdown pinch Quin, Stiller recalls a clip erstwhile he opened up to his dada Jerry astir emotion arsenic though he didn't "pay capable attention" to him — successful that moment, a instrumentality approached nan two, and Jerry turned to prosecute pinch nan fan. 

“That's really hilarious,” Quin responds. “Because conscionable a fewer weeks ago, we were each retired astatine a restaurant, and I had been stressed astir assemblage stuff, and past nan group location wanted to get, like, a image pinch you. Then I conscionable retrieve I was truthful frustrated, for illustration nan world conscionable has to extremity to get this picture. You cognize what I mean?"

"I deliberation I sewage much of my dada successful maine than my mom," Ben replies.

While speaking pinch PEOPLE astatine nan Oct. 5 premiere, Stiller said making nan movie taught him a batch astir really his ain narration pinch his parents mirrored nan ones he had forged pinch his children — for amended aliases worse. 

“They [Ella and Quin] were very clear pinch maine astir what I sewage wrong,” he said. “And I really appreciated that, because it's 1 of those things wherever you deliberation you know, ‘Oh, I cognize what I'm putting retired location to them.’ But from their perspective, it was wholly different.”

“And by nan way, that's precisely really it was pinch my parents,” Ben continued. “But arsenic nan parent, I really couldn't spot that. So to beryllium capable to question and reply them and talk to them astir it and perceive their honorable feelings — and nan truth that they were free capable and unafraid capable to conscionable opportunity what they thought — is thing I really appreciated.”

Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost is now playing successful prime theaters and will beryllium disposable to watercourse Apple TV connected Oct. 24.