Ben Affleck dropped by The Ellen Show on Thursday to promote his new Netflix film, Triple Frontier and shared an update about his sobriety.
According to the former Batman star, Affleck told Ellen DeGeneres most candidly that he was currently in “such a great place” and feels “so good” following his stint in rehab for alcoholism.
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“There’s temptation to get like — I could be depressed, I could be like, ‘I’ve been through a lot. That was hard, this was hard,’ or I could be kind of embarrassed,” Affleck told Ellen in his first appearance on the show in nearly two years. “But I have to say, I feel so good right now. I’m in such a great place, kids are healthy, life is good. So whatever it took for me to get to this place, I’m grateful for.”
The actor also didn’t hesitate to defend his now infamous back tattoo featuring a phoenix rising from the ashes. Affleck received a lot of criticism for the bird, particularly from ex-wife Jennifer Garner and ex-fiance Jennifer Lopez.
Garner hinted that she didn’t take kindly to the message behind the tattoo in an interview with Vanity Fair.
“A phoenix rising from the ashes? Am I the ashes in this scenario? I take umbrage,” Garner told Vanity Fair at the time, “I refuse to be the ashes.”
Lopez, on the other hand, was far blunter according to PEOPLE, calling the tattoo “awful” and asking what Affleck was thinking. But for Affleck, there’s more to it and he actually loves it.
“It represents something important to me. It’s meaningful to me, I like it,” he told DeGeneres on Thursday’s show. “I love my tattoo. I’m very happy with it. Luckily, I’m the one who has it.”
He was also quick to note that the response to it was “not so much positive,” but he’s OK with it.
The appearance on The Ellen Show didn’t dive too deep into his personal life or many relationships. Despite ex Shauna Sexton tossing shade at him in her reaction to Triple Frontier, there was little mention of his love life. Instead, Affleck kept on point and discussed the stress behind trying to become a Special Forces soldier for the film.
“It was a little bit like walking onto a basketball floor with LeBron James, and him saying, ‘You’ll look like me in two weeks,’” Affleck said. “So we tried our best but I think all acutely aware of how much we fell short. And how extraordinary they are.”
Triple Frontier is currently streaming on Netflix.
