Ben Stiller Says Cutting His Daughter From His Film Was His Worst Career Move

Ben Stiller says cutting daughter Ella from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was the worst decision he made, revealing in the new documentary Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost that she’d been cast as Mitty’s younger sister before he axed the role.
Ben Stiller just did the rarest thing in Hollywood: he admitted a big creative call he made was a mistake — and it involved his own kid. In a new documentary, he talks about cutting his daughter out of one of his movies, and the family feedback gets pretty honest.
The cut that still stings
In the new documentary 'Stiller & Meara: Nothing is Lost', Stiller tells his daughter, Ella, that he cut her role from his 2013 film 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'. She had been cast as Mitty's younger sister, shot a scene, and then got left on the cutting room floor.
'It was the worst decision I made in my life.'
Stiller chalks the decision up to his perfectionism. Ella, for her part, says she was really scared filming the scene and felt it didn’t actually make sense in the movie. So yes, it was supposed to be her feature debut, and yes, it hurt — but she also sees why it got cut.
The family notes are... candid
The doc also shows Stiller checking in with his son, 20-year-old Quinlin, to see if he feels the same way. Short answer: kind of.
- Quinlin says his dad’s work ethic can push the family away — after a tough day, Ben can get in his own head and it’s hard to pull him out.
- He adds that Stiller’s professional mindset sometimes kills the fun of, say, being on vacation.
- He points out his dad has tried to juggle everything at once — directing, acting, producing, writing — on top of being a parent, but from his view, work usually won.
Stiller’s self-audit
In a recent interview, Stiller says the documentary forced him to face where he fell short as a parent.
'They [Ella and Quin] were very clear with me about what I got wrong.'
He says he thought he knew what he was projecting as a dad, but hearing it from them was totally different. He also recognizes the complicated dynamic mirrors the one he had growing up with his parents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara — he just couldn’t see that clearly while he was in it. As tough as it was, he appreciated sitting down with his kids and getting their unfiltered thoughts.
Why this lands
It’s a messy, very human look at a filmmaker whose drive has made a lot of great work — and sometimes made home life harder. Cutting your own kid from your movie because it doesn’t fit is a brutal call. Owning it publicly as the worst decision of your life? That’s a level of candor you don’t get often.