Ben Affleck was ‘miserable,’ drinking ‘too much’ while filming ‘Justice League’
Ben Affleck admits he was “miserable” and “drank too much” while filming the much-maligned “Justice League” in 2016.
In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, published Thursday, Affleck said working on the 2017 superhero film left a “monstrous taste” in his mouth and led him to drop his own plans to direct a Batman film.
“[‘Justice League’] made me go, ‘I’m out. I never want to do any of this again. I’m not suited.’ That was the worst experience I’ve ever seen in a business which is full of some s—ty experiences. It broke my heart,” Affleck said.
The production was marred with drama from the outset and filled with rewrites and reshoots with Joss Whedon after the film’s original director, Zack Snyder, stepped away following the death of his daughter.
“There was an idea of someone [Whedon] coming in, like, ‘I’ll rescue you and we’ll do 60 days of shooting and I’ll write a whole thing around what you have. I’ve got the secret.’ And it wasn’t the secret. That was hard,” Affleck said.
“And I started to drink too much. I was back at the hotel in London, it was either that or jump out the window. And I just thought, ‘This isn’t the life I want. My kids aren’t here. I’m miserable.'”
The “Gone Girl” actor — who shares children Violet, 17, Samuel, 11, and Seraphina, 14, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner — added that the role of Batman was “not satisfying” and that he spent a great deal of time “sweaty and exhausted.”
Following the release of the film, DC fans demanded they also release Snyder’s version of the same film.
Affleck said he did one day of shooting with Snyder before the now-famous “Snyder Cut” version was released in 2021.
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“I went and did it. And now [‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’] is my highest-rated movie on IMDb,” he said, adding, “I’ve never had one that went from nadir to pinnacle. Retroactively, it’s a hit. All of a sudden I was getting congratulated for the bomb I’m in.”
And despite saying no more superhero films, he did have a short cameo in “The Flash.”
“For the five minutes I’m [in the film], it’s really great,” Affleck said.
As for the actor’s drinking, Affleck, 50, sobered up in 2018 after Garner — who split with the actor in 2015 after 10 years of marriage — begged him to seek treatment.
He now describes himself as the unintentional “poster boy for actor alcoholism and recovery” after his public struggles with alcoholism and addiction.
The newly married movie star — who tied the knot with old flame Jennifer Lopez in July 2022 — said that his priority is less on big-hitting films in far-away destinations and more on his family life in Los Angeles these days.
Affleck also shared that he has turned down opportunities to direct films in other countries to be present for his children.
“These years are too important. If I miss them, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life,” Affleck shared.
Adding, “And then I thought, ‘OK, well, if I’m in Los Angeles and I’m in an office and I’m doing this work, I can step out for the basketball game or the jazz performance.’ So I protect those things.”
