Ben Stiller is recalling being raised by parents Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara - and how he got an early look at life in the spotlight. "Growing up around it - and we talk [in the movie] about all those things I saw with my parents - you actually as a kid see the dark underside of it. The stress. The effect it has on relationships," Ben, 59, said on the Wednesday, October 22, episode of The Howard Stern Show. "You see that up close as a kid and you still want to go into it." Ben explored the legacy of his parents and their 61-year marriage in his new documentary, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, out now. (Anne died at age 85 in 2015, while Jerry died at age 92 in 2020.) While creating the documentary, Ben shared that it taught him more about his parents - and about himself. In the documentary, Ben opened up about being a husband to his wife, Christine Taylor, and a father to the pair's two children: daughter Ella, 23, and son Quin, 20. Ben Stiller Admits to Making 'Mistakes' As a Father to His 2 Kids "Like any parent, I remember things that weren't happy about my childhood and go, 'I'll do better,'" Stiller told The Sunday Times in an October interview about the documentary. "And then I realized it was impossible to avoid making the mistakes they made. I feel like I have a really great relationship with my kids, but it's complicated and has at times been strained. When they were young, I did not get it. I thought, 'Oh, the kids are young, I can work away and be a good dad earning for the family.' But the bonds you form with your kids when they're young are so important." With his childhood, Ben admitted that his parents' busy careers "totally affected" him and his older sister, Amy. He noted that his parents would spend some late nights working in New York or flying to Los Angeles for weeks at a time. "I just remember missing them terribly," he said. "And when they would come back, my sister and I would act out Jesus Christ Superstar or something in the lounge. But, then, I probably f***ed up more with my kids than my parents did with us." In the doc, Ben reflected on cutting Ella out of his 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - something he now regrets. Ben Stiller's Kids Felt Like He Wasn't 'Ever' There as a Dad Growing Up "I cut you out of Secret Life of Walter Mitty. And it was probably the worst decision I've ever made in my life," he said, adding, "You were so cute." Ella, meanwhile, assured her dad that she was "really scared" of acting at a young age and the role "didn't make sense" for the film. "For me it goes deeper. What it relates to is my own issues and my own obsession with my work or quote on quote perfectionism," Ben shared. Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost is out in select theaters now and will be available to stream on Apple TV+ on October 24.