Source: Entertainment Weekly

There are some people that are simply unforgettable.

That’s a sentiment Ben Stiller reflects on in his new documentary, Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost, in which he takes viewers behind the scenes of his parents’ — legendary comedians Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara — relationship and their lives beyond their comedy duo act, Stiller & Meara. It’s also something the Severance director embraces as Christopher Walken takes him down memory lane in a conversation about working with his parents in the exclusive clip above.

The documentary provides an intimate perspective on the trials and tribulations in the marriage between Jerry and Anne, and how that reflected in their iconic career as a comedy duo. Stiller & Meara took them to stages around the country, including over 30 appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, and introduced an eclectic cast of characters into the lives of their children, Ben and his sister Amy Stiller, such as folks like Severance star Walken.

In the exclusive clip, Walken recalls meeting Jerry and Anne early on in their careers. “[Theatrical producer and director] Joe Papp was starting the Delacorte Theater… and Jerry did shows for him. And maybe Anne too. And that’s where I met them,” Walken recalls, referring to Papp establishing the open-air amphitheater in Central Park for his Shakespeare in the Park program in New York.

“Your mom kind of scared me a little bit,” the Oscar winner admits to the laughter of Ben. “Your mom would look at me, and I knew that, you know, she had my number. She looked at me, and I could tell… She knows you’re up to no good.”

Meara’s her fierce demeanor is something Ben discusses at length in Nothing Is Lost, especially in comparison to his father’s more deliberate persona. Ben shares elsewhere in the doc that he’d often witness “all the stress and tension” between his parents’ distinct natures, and didn’t want to “end up” like them.

But, as Walken observes, there was strength in those natures that cemented the foundation of Anne and Jerry’s relationships.

“I worked with Jerry, and when you work with people, it’s a very intimate thing. I think of it, like, almost like in the circus, the trapeze thing, you know, where you do the flip? And you gotta be sure that somebody’s hands are there, you know, that you can catch them. Jerry was like that. He was like, really solid,” Walken recalls.

Ben began working on the documentary shortly after his father died in 2020 at age 92. His mother died five years prior at age 85.

At the time, Ben was also navigating his brief separation from wife Christine Taylor and found himself looking for answers.

Stiller & Meara: Nothing Is Lost made its premiere on Oct. 5 at the New York Film Festival, and will screen in select theaters beginning on Oct. 17. The documentary will be available to stream Apple TV+ on Oct. 24.

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