Ben Stiller has recalled how he became "disconnected" from his family amid his separation from wife Christine Taylor.

The actor-director and the actress split in 2017 after nearly two decades of marriage, but reconciled while living together during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown in 2020. The couple shares daughter Ella, 23, and son Quinn, 20.

During this time, Ben started working on ideas for a project about his parents, comedy stars Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, which culminated in the new documentary, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost.

"My career had been going along for a long time but things actually weren't great in my personal life," he says in the film, according to People. "I just felt out of balance and unhappy and kind of disconnected from my family, from my kids, and just kind of a little bit lost."

Performing as comedy team Stiller and Meara in the '60s and '70s, Jerry and Anne made frequent appearances on popular variety programmes like The Ed Sullivan Show.

Later, the comedian starred as Frank Costanza on the sitcom Seinfeld and as Arthur Spooner on The King of Queens, and also appeared opposite son Ben in movies like Zoolander and Hot Pursuit.

Meanwhile, Anne had recurring roles on TV shows like Sex and the City and The King of Queens.

Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost includes archive footage and interviews with the 59-year-old and other family members.

The film premiered at the New York Film Festival on Sunday night.

"It's exciting to finally get to share it with audiences; and a great honour to celebrate my parents, both as I knew them growing up, and as I've come to know them in new ways through the making of this film," the Dodgeball star said in a statement.

Jerry and Anne were married for over 60 years, until she died at the age of 85 in 2015.

The Emmy-nominated actor passed away at the age of 92 in May 2020.

Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost will be released in select theatres on 17 October and is set to begin streaming via Apple TV+ on 24 October.