Ben Affleck’s new interview with the New York Times is making the viral rounds this morning. In it, the 47-year-old opens up, in unexpected ways, about how his alcoholism was interfering with his film work.
Affleck played Batman/Bruce Wayne in two films; the Zack Snyder-directed “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Justice League,” both of which were box-office successes but got trashed by critics. In the aforementioned interview, Affleck acknowledges that his motivation for leaving, what was supposed to be his third Caped Crusader film, ‘The Batman,’ an origin story he was set to write, direct and star in, was more about his own personal demons than anything having to do with the script or studio. In fact, the actor mentions that he was happy with the script, but was freaked out about what might happen if he made the film whilst he was going through a major bout with alcoholism.
“I showed somebody ‘The Batman’ script,” Affleck said. “They said, ‘I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again.’”
Affleck admits that he “drank relatively normally for a long time.” However, it was well-known that Affleck was going through a hellish bout with alcoholism between 2015-2018. He even checked into rehab twice during that time (‘17 and ‘18).
The actor seems to still be going through rehab, a year is usually not enough when it comes to sobriety, but he does have a new movie being released next month. Affleck couldn’t have asked for a better comeback narrative than what he’s trying to pull off with “The Way Back.” (which shouldn’t be confused with Peter Weir’s 2011 movie of the same name). Affleck plays a former basketball all-star who loses touch with family and friends due to addiction but attempts a redemptive comeback as a high-school basketball coach. Can it get any thicker? Gavin O’Connor directs the film (that’s a good thing) which is set for release on March 6th, 2020.