Affleck done worrying what other people think
In less splashy roles, he delivers strongest acting work in years
Ben Affleck will turn 50 this year. It’s not surprising that a movie star would approach such a milestone with a certain degree of self-reflection, if not dread. But after a tumultuous decade in his career and his personal life — marked by great highs, including his 2013 best picture win for “Argo,” which he directed, and deep lows, including his divorce from actor Jennifer Garner, with whom he has three children, and his public struggles with alcoholism — Affleck says he is at peace these days.
“The common thread I’ve found from the people I know who’ve turned 50 who are the happiest is that they’ve stopped worrying so much about what other people think,” he said. “I think that’s the gift of that age. When you hit 30, you think, ‘Now I’ve figured it out,’ then you hit 40 and you’re like, ‘I had no idea.’ Now, when I think about being in my 20s, I wonder, ‘How was my brain distinguishable from a gorilla’s at that age?’ ”
Feeling wrung out after his run as Batman in 2016’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and 2017’s “Justice League,” Affleck has focused in the last few years on less splashy and more character-driven roles, delivering some of his strongest acting work in years. In 2020, he had a well-received turn as an alcoholic high school basketball coach in the drama “The Way Back.” He earned positive reviews in the fall for his against-type performance as a pompous, lascivious count in Ridley Scott’s period drama “The Last Duel.”
Now, Affleck is co-starring in George Clooney’s drama “The Tender Bar” as a bookish, working-class bartender who becomes a father figure to his nephew, played by Tye Sheridan. Though “The Tender Bar,” now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, has drawn mixed reviews, critics have praised Affleck’s understated performance, for which he earned a Golden Globe supporting actor nomination.
This interview with Affleck has been edited for clarity and length.
Q: You said recently that it’s only in the last few years that you’ve felt comfortable as an actor. What shifted?
A: My whole career, I’ve loved acting. But I kind of got to a place where I realized I needed to really define and stick to what my standards were for what I wanted to do and not be drawn into what everyone else thinks. I think it’s a paradox that the more you focus on actually trying to do what you think is interesting and what you want to do — rather than what other people say — the better your work is and the more relaxed you get. I mean, “The Last Duel” came out and every article was like, “It made no money.” And I really loved the movie, and I liked what I did in it. I was disappointed more people didn’t see it, but I can’t chase what’s going to be cool. I’m happy with it. I’m not preoccupied with notions of success or failure about money or commercial success, because those things really corrupt your choices. Then what happens is the movies are less interesting and you’re less good.
Q: In 2016, I interviewed you three times … and I got the sense that you were under a lot of pressure. Shortly after that, you dropped out of directing and starring in “The Batman” and sought treatment for your drinking. Was that when your priorities changed?
A: Directing “Batman” is a good example. I looked at it and thought, “I’m not going to be happy doing this. The person who does this should love it.” You’re supposed to always want these things, and I probably would have loved doing it at 32 or something. But it was the point where I started to realize it’s not worth it. It’s just a wonderful benefit of reorienting and recalibrating your priorities that once it started being more about the experience, I felt more at ease. It was really “Justice League” that was the nadir for me. That was a bad experience because of a confluence of things: my own life, my divorce, being away too much, the competing agendas and then (director) Zack (Snyder)’s personal tragedy (Snyder’s daughter Autumn died by suicide in 2017) and the reshooting. … It was everything that I didn’t like about this. That became the moment where I said, “I’m not doing this anymore.”
It’s not even about, like, “Justice League” was so bad. Because it could have been anything.
Q: All celebrities go through ups and downs, but there’s a perception that your highs and lows have been more extreme than most. Does it feel that way to you?
A: I agree. I’m a little wary of saying so, because I think, “Is this going to smack of being self-pitying?” I have definitely had big ups and downs. I don’t know that it’s any more difficult than the average person. … I think when I was young, people saw me as somebody who had too much or was successful too easily or looked like some kind of cavalier, insincere, callow frat guy. That was nothing like how I felt. I felt like this sort of insecure, anxious, overly verbal kid from Boston who had tried to break into this business and was dealing with his own stuff. But there is an interesting thing about how we come off versus who we are. … I got to a place where (the public perception) was so different from who I am that I just stopped reading and stopped caring.
But then, as my kids got older and started seeing the internet themselves, that’s the difficult part. Even the “Sad Affleck” meme — that was funny to me. … But then my kids see it, and I think, “Oh, are they going to think their dad is fundamentally sad or they have to worry about me?” That’s really tough.
Q: It seems like when you’ve had difficulties in your personal life, people have often rallied around your rebound. Does it feel that way to you?
A: That’s common to all storytelling: The whole architecture of the threeact narrative is you start off a story with somebody, throw rocks at them for two acts until it seems like they can’t possibly make it, and then have them succeed. And there are times my life has at least externally looked like that. There is something about people going, “Wow, this person really seems like they’re going through a lot of suffering. I feel for them.” But I don’t want to live that way to have you like me. I’m really happy now, and I feel great. I’m not perfect. I don’t do everything right. But I wake up and feel good about the choices I made the day before, and if I don’t, I address it right away. I’ve got to hope and believe that people will still like the movies I make if I’m not in the midst of something they think of as agonizing.