Director and actor Ben Affleck (49) coped well with the fact that he was reduced to a joke. Until his children were old enough to understand.
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The father of three had his big Hollywood breakthrough with the Oscar-winning film “Good Will Hunting” (1997) in which he and his childhood friend Matt Damon (48) both wrote the script and played the lead roles.
The duo Ben Affleck and Matt Damon won the Oscar for best screenplay, and the late actor Robin Williams received the award for best supporting actor. While Matt Damon steadily continued his career and became a giant movie star and solid family man, Affleck went on a rampage with the movie “Gigli” (2003).
–Since then, alcoholism, gambling and high-profile boyfriends stole the attention of Affleck’s filmmaking talent for a number of years.
In a recent interview with the newspaper Los Angeles Times, he opens up about how he did not care about how the media portrayed him before his children began to notice it.
– I came to a place where people’s perception of me was so different from who I am that I just stopped reading and stopped caring, he says in the interview.
– But then, when my children got older and started using the Internet themselves, it was difficult.
–Ridiculed
Affleck has daughters Violet Anne (16) and Seraphina Rose (13) and son Samuel Garner (9) with ex-wife Jennifer Garner (49), whom he was married to from 2005 to 2018.
Suddenly, things went awry when his children discovered the “Sad Affleck” meme that went viral on social media. The clip shows a depressed Ben Affleck sitting silently and sadly next to superhero colleague Henry Caville during a promo interview for “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice”.
– It taught me not to do interviews with Henry Cavill where I do not say anything and where people can put Simon & Garfunkle songs over, Affleck has told BBC Radio 1 afterwards about the incident.
–In the Los Angeles Times interview, he opens up about a life marked by roller coasters both career-wise and privately.
The coincidence of playing in a turkey-stamped film like “Gigli” and at the same time being the girlfriend of one of the world’s greatest artists, Jennifer Lopez, who had the lead role in the film, gave the tabloid press food for years. The two were lovers from 2001 to 2004 before they were reunited to the cheers of the fans and confirmed their relationship last summer.
–Plays alcoholic
Affleck did not get real revenge until he won the Oscar again in 2013, this time for best film with “Argo”. Today, he is considered one of the best filmmakers in Hollywood, but privately he has left behind years of alcoholism and detoxification, well supported by ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
Now Affleck is relevant with the George Clooney drama “The Tender Bar” where he plays a bookish, working-class bartender who becomes the father figure of his own nephew. The role has given Affleck a Golden Globe nomination, which despite the Golden Globes’ fringed reputation, increases the chance of an Oscar nomination.
–In preparation for the role of Uncle Charlie, Affleck drew inspiration from his own complicated relationship with his father, an aspiring playwright who drank too much and worked part-time as a bartender when Affleck grew up.
– There is something about getting older – the feelings are more accessible to me. I know how resentment or remorse or ambivalence or nostalgia feels. As a 24-year-old, I had no idea how they behaved.
Criticized after love interview
Affleck recently received criticism after visiting «The Howard Stern Show», where he eased the veil on his marriage to actress Jennifer Garner (49). The reactions were not long in coming after the movie star elaborated on how difficult the marriage was.
He claimed, among other things, that he and Garner would probably “end up in each other’s throats” if they had not parted ways.
– I had probably still been drinking. That was partly why I started drinking … because I was trapped, Affleck said.
–To radio host Howard Stern, Affleck explained that he and his ex-wife “tried, tried and tried” for the sake of the children. The former couple married in 2005 and were formally divorced in 2018, four years after they separated.
The Hollywood star got married with Garner in 2005, a few years after that the engagement to Lopez was broken.
Many thought it was bad style to blame the drinking of their then spouse. Fox News, USA Today and People is among the media that have covered the criticism.
– He can cast a lot of shadow
Ex-wife Jennifer Garner herself has stated that Affleck was her great love, but that she experiences him as a complicated man:
– He is the love of my life. What should I do about it? He is the most ingenious person in any room, the most charismatic, the most generous. He’s just a complicated guy. I always say, “When his sun shines on you, you feel it. But when the sun is shining elsewhere, it is cold. He can cast a lot of shadows, “Garner said Vanity Fair i 2016.
–One month ago, Affleck stated in an interview that he is in a different place in life than before:
– My life has really changed a lot. When I had children, it became very clear to me that the priority was time with them, Affleck said last month and at the same time praised George Clooney’s way of leading the recording:
– George was spectacular in that way. He’s also a dad and would give me time off on the weekends or let me go early. He really understood and appreciated how important it was for me to see my children.
–The actor expresses that he appreciates life. According to Affleck, his focus now is on what he must do to be able to be in Los Angeles as much as possible until his children start studying.
– I’m very happy now, and I feel good. I’m not perfect. I’m not doing everything right. But I wake up and am comfortable with the choices I made the day before, and if I do not, I take it right away. I have to hope and believe that people will still like the movies I make if I’m not in the middle of something they find painful.
Watch the VGTV film program «Bluebusters»:
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