After falling off the wagon and then calling it quits with his longtime girlfriend Lindsay Shookus, actor Ben Affleck is grateful for his second chances in Hollywood.
In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Affleck, who stars in “Live By Night,” a movie based on a book by Dennis Lehane and also directed by Affleck, said he is “really pleased” with the attention the movie is getting, as well as the talk it has brought about the subject of war movie’s themes.
“What’s interesting to me is that it’s like a no-brainer to me that war films are gonna have this new popularity. Because I think it’s a really grim subject,” Affleck told THR. “It’s not any kind of valor, it’s just war. This version with my father is a really accessible version. I’m really proud of it.”
Affleck starred as a civilian who joins the U.S. Navy after witnessing the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in “The Sum of All Fears,” the first film made by MGM since its bankruptcy. The film was then adapted into a television series of the same name starring Affleck. Affleck played a career Navy man battling alcoholism and bedwetting on the series.
After losing his movie career and drinking problem following his split from Jennifer Garner in 2013, Affleck returned to his acting roles, including roles in “The Accountant,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and 2016’s “Live By Night,” based on Lehane’s novel “Live by Night.”
In October, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 75-year-old actor would be returning to his role as Batman in the upcoming installment of the Warner Bros. superhero franchise. It was confirmed in January.
Affleck said he hopes the success of “Live By Night” draws attention to the issues of social media exploitation on stars and others.
“The thing I find now that’s so horrifying about all of that stuff is that if you are ‘famous’ for a couple years and you have nothing better to do, you just have this enormous opening night to promote yourself. And then after that, the people with the mikes don’t want to hear anything about you,” Affleck said. “And people start wanting to discuss other people. So there’s this kind of frothing at the mouth about pop culture.”