A rising Broadway star who hails from a showbiz dynasty mesmerized at the 2026 Tony Awards.
Ella Stiller, the daughter of Hollywood stars Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor, absolutely wowed on the red carpet of the elite theatrical awards show.
Ella, 24, stunned in an emerald green layered gown with sexy cutouts, spaghetti straps, and an elegant updo with wavy tendrils cascading along her face.
While Ella isn’t up for any Tonys, she made her off-Broadway debut in last year’s Dilaria, a show described as ‘snappy, sexy, and pop culture-forward’ by the New York Theatre Guide.
The play followed Ella in the title role of Dilaria, ‘a rich, young girl who finds there’s nothing more powerful on social media than your classmate dying tragically young,’ according to a synopsis on Playbill.
Posing solo, she proved she was making a name for herself outside of her famous family.
Ben Stiller’s daughter Ella Stiller wowed in a gorgeous green gown at the 2026 Tony Awards
Ella is the daughter of Hollywood icons Ben Stiller and Christine Taylor but is forging her own career in Broadway
The world of entertainment really is a family business for Ella, whose parents and grandparents – the late great Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara – are all famous stars.
Ella’s parents wed in 2000, welcomed her and her brother Quinlin, before announcing their shock separation in 2017.
They eventually reconciled during the COVID-19 pandemic.
‘I think at that moment in time for us we weren’t on the same page with a lot of things,’ Christine told host Josh McBride on the McBride Rewind podcast of their separation.
‘I can talk about it now… but in the moment, I mean, it was very difficult to come to that decision.
‘It was not light. It was not without a heavy heart and feeling really, even, dejected at the time of like this is not how I imagined it was going to be and we should have been able to work it out.’
‘Through it all, we were always in contact. We were co-parenting together. We were spending time together as a family,’ Taylor said.
As she posed solo, Ella proved she was making a name for herself outside of her famous family
While Ella nor her show are up for any Tonys, she made her off-Broadway debut in Dilaria, a show praised as ‘tragically horny and gruesomely macabre’ by Theatrely
Ella with her parents Christine Taylor and Ben Stiller in 2024
Ella comes from a showbiz dynasty consisting of her famous parents and her late great grandparents, Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara
Stiller and Taylor wed in 2000, announced their separation in 2017, but found their way back to one another during the COVID-19 pandemic
The ‘silver lining’ of the pandemic acted as a forced pause, allowing them to re-evaluate their relationship.
‘If there’s a silver lining for us during Covid, that was the little gift,’ Taylor explained.
‘We all kind of bubbled up together with our kids. Our daughter was graduating high school at the time, our son was graduation eighth grade. We all were in the house together and we had nothing but time.
‘So Ben and I spent a lot of time just working on us with a therapist and we’d log into Zoom and we’d do our therapy sessions and really found the way back,’ she said, adding: ‘I think it’s something people don’t love to talk about because it feels like a failure.’
She went on: ‘By the way, if the right answer for us was that it didn’t work, but we were able to figure that out very clearly and focused, then that’s great too.
‘Life moves at such a rapid pace that we don’t often take the time to just pause and say, “Okay, he looked at his stuff, I looked at my stuff”… long-term marriages are a lot of work.’
Taylor stated that she and Stiller emerged from the tough time ‘really stronger and better than ever. And I feel really comfortable talking about it because I think it’s really important for people to feel like that’s okay.’
Tony Awards 2026 nominations – IN FULL
Best Musical
The Lost Boys
Schmigadoon!
Titaníque
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Best Revival of a Musical
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Ragtime
Richard O’Brien’s the Rocky Horror Show
Best Play
The Balusters
Giant
Liberation
Little Bear Ridge Road
Best Revival of a Play
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Becky Shaw
Every Brilliant Thing
Fallen Angels
Oedipus
Best Direction of a Musical
Michael Arden – The Lost Boys
Lear deBessonet – Ragtime
Christopher Gatteli – Schmigadoon!
Tim Jackson – Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Zhailon Levinston and Bill Rauch – Cats: the Jellicle Ball
Best Direction of a Play
Nicholas Hytner – Giant
Robert Icke – Oedipus
Kenny Leon – The Balusters
Joe Mantello – Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Whitney White – Liberation
Best Lighting Design in a Play
Dog Day Afternoon
Oedipus
August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Bug
The Fear of 13
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Best Sound Design of a Play
August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Oedipus
The Fear of 13
Bug
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Best Costume Design in a Musical
Ragtime
Schmigadoon!
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
The Lost Boys
Richard O’Brien’s the Rocky Horror Show
Best Lighting Design in a Musical
Chess
Richard O’Brien’s the Rocky Horror Show
Schmigadoon!
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Ragtime
The Lost Boys
Best Sound Design of a Musical
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Ragtime
The Lost Boys
Richard O’Brien’s the Rocky Horror Show
Schmigadoon!
Best Scenic Design in a Play
Oedipus
Bug
Dog Day Afternoon
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Fallen Angels
Best Scenic Design in a Musical
Richard O’Brien’s the Rocky Horror Show
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
The Lost Boys
Schmigadoon!
Best Book of a Musical
The Lost Boys
Schmigadoon!
Titaníque
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
Will Harrison – Punch
Nathan Lane – Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
John Lithgow – Giant
Daniel Radcliffe – Every Brilliant Thing
Mark Strong – Oedipus
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Rose Byrne – Fallen Angels
Carrie Coon – Bug
Susannah Flood – Liberation
Lesley Manville – Oedipus
Kelli O’Hara – Fallen Angels
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Play
Christopher Abbott – Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
Danny Burstein – Marjorie Prime
Brandon J. Dirden – Waiting for Godot
Alden Ehrenreich – Becky Shaw
Ruben Santiago-Hudson – August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
Richard Thomas – The Balusters
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play
Betsy Aidem – Liberation
Marylouise Burke – The Balusters
Aya Cash – Giant
Laurie Metcalf – Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
June Squibb – Marjorie Prime
Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical
Nicholas Christopher – Chess
Luke Evans – Richard O’Brien’s the Rocky Horror Show
Joshua Henry – Ragtime
Sam Tutty – Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Brandon Uranowitz – Ragtime
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical
Sara Chase – Schmigadoon!
Stephanie Hsu – Richard O’Brien’s the Rocky Horror Show
Caissie Levy – Ragtime
Marla Mindelle – Titaníque
Christiani Pitts – Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical
Ali Louis Bourzgi – The Lost Boys
André de Shields – Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Bryce Pinkham – Chess
Ben Levi Ross – Ragtime
Layton Williams – Titaníque
Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical
Shoshana Bean – The Lost Boys
Hannah Cruz – Chess
Rachel Dratch – Richard O’Brien’s the Rocky Horror Show
Ana Gasteyer – Schmigadoon!
Nichelle Lewis – Ragtime
Best Original Score
Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman
August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
The Lost Boys
Schmigadoon!
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Best Orchestrations
Schmigadoon!
The Lost Boys
Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York)
Chess
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
Best Choreography
Schmigadoon!
Ragtime
Richard O’Brien’s the Rocky Horror Show
Cats: The Jellicle Ball
The Lost Boys
Best Costume Design in a Play
Dog Day Afternoon
Liberation
Fallen Angels
The Balusters
August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone