Ben Affleck Says Jennifer Garner Divorce Made Him a Better Actor

Ben Affleck is crediting his divorce from Jennifer Garner and other real-life experiences to being a better actor. In recent years, Affleck has opened up about his struggles with alcohol and the process he went through following his divorce from the actress but is seemingly turning all of his struggles around for the better. Recently, he discussed that with older age, becoming a father and life experiences, it’s allowed him to be better at his craft.

“For me, the movie was much more about the fact that — whether it’s having lived enough years, having seen enough ups and downs, having children and divorce, having experienced a lot of different things — I’m at a point now in my life where I have sufficient life experience to bring to a role to make it really interesting for me,” he said according to Entertainment Tonight. “I’m not good enough to just invent it from whole cloth, you know?”

Affleck and Garner got a divorce in 2018 following 10 years of marriage. The two share three children: Samuel, Violet, and Seraphina. “Growing older and having had more intense and meaningful personal experiences has made acting much more interesting for me and in turn made me drawn to the kinds of movies that are about people who are flawed,” he admitted. “I didn’t have to do research for the alcoholism aspect of the movie — that was covered.”

Affleck reflected on his role for Way Back, which highlights Jack Cunningham’s character, who was a high school basketball star but walked away from the game without giving reasons. Later on in life, he struggled with his job and alcoholism, only to one day get a shot at redemption.

In February 2020, Affleck opened up about his personal struggles with alcoholism and admitted that he thought he would never get a divorce. He revealed that alcohol played a huge role in his downfall before deciding to sober up. “I never thought that I was gonna get divorced,” he told Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America. “I didn’t want to get divorced. I didn’t want to be a divorced person. I really didn’t want to be a split family with my children. And it upset me because it meant I wasn’t who I thought I was, and that was so painful and so disappointing in myself.” He continued to detail his struggles with alcohol and even publicly apologized to Garner and gushed over how amazing she is and has been throughout the process.