Ben Affleck got candid about the tough parts of relationships just three months after he and ex-wife Jennifer Lopez finalized their divorce.
While discussing his new movie, The Accountant 2, in a recent press junket, Ben, 52, said that he understands his character Christian Wolff’s relationship struggles.
“Here’s a guy who’s trying to figure out — he wants to have a relationship with a woman, he’s trying to figure out how to do that, like, how to put yourself out there,” Ben said of his character., according to Page Six. “You know, he’s not comfortable extending himself. He doesn’t really know how to flirt exactly. He’s not comfortable … like so many of us.”
He continued, “It’s not easy for anyone figuring out relationships, particularly at the very early part, where you’re trying to gauge, ‘What does this signal mean? Is this person looking at me? Do they like me? Am I going to humiliate myself if I go over there?’”
Ben made the comments just three months after he and Jennifer, 55, finalized their divorce. The former couple – who were previously engaged in the early 2000s – rekindled their romance in 2021 and got married in 2022. In Touch was the first to report that there was trouble in paradise for the pair in May 2024, and Jennifer confirmed their split when she filed for divorce in August 2024.
Before their divorce was finalized, the Wedding Planner actress opened up about their split in an October 2024 conversation with Nikki Glaser for Interview magazine.
“I was thinking about this time in my life, and I’m like, ‘That’s not what I thought it was going to turn out like,’” Jennifer said at the time. “And then I thought, ‘No, this is exactly where I needed to be, to lead me to where I want to go.’”
Meanwhile, Ben broke his silence on their divorce when he appeared on the March 25 cover of GQ. While discussing the issues in their relationship, Ben explained that J. Lo “handled celebrity more adeptly and more adroitly than I have.”
“My temperament is to be a little bit more reserved and private than hers,” he continued. “As happens in relationships, you don’t always have the same attitude towards these things.”
During their marriage, Ben reluctantly agreed to star in the 2024 documentary about their relationship called The Greatest Love Story Never Told. Despite his hesitations, he explained why he agreed to participate in the project during the interview.
Ben said of his initial mindset, “Part of it was, ‘OK, if I’m going to participate in this, I want to try to do it in an honest way and in a way that’s interesting.’ Because I thought it was an interesting examination. I love and support this person. I believe in them. They’re great. I want people to see that.”
Despite no longer being a married couple, Ben and Jennifer appear to be on good terms. In fact, an insider exclusively told In Touch that the exes have agreed to be civil for the sake of their kids.
While they don’t share any children together, Jennifer and ex Marc Anthony’s twins, Max and Emma, 17, grew close with Ben’s kids with ex-wife Jennifer Garner, Violet, 19, Seraphina “Fin”, 16, and Samuel, 13.
“If they can’t stand to be in the same room as each other it’s going to make that very tough, so they’ve agreed to do what it takes to get on better terms,” the source shared. “Before they got back together they were genuinely friends and they’d love to get back to that.”
