Ben Affleck said he was “miserable” during the filming of “Justice League,” remarking it almost made him quit Hollywood altogether.
The 50-year-old actor said he was drinking way “too much” when he had to be away from his kids in 2016 while filming the DC superhero movie in London, the Hollywood Reporter reported.
“[‘Justice League’] made me go, ‘I’m out,'” Affleck told the outlet. “I never want to do any of this again. I’m not suited.”
Ben Affleck's next shot.
The actor, filmmaker and budding CEO on the disruptive production company he launched with Matt Damon, why he’s done with DC, getting Michael Jordan’s blessing for #AirMovie and the advice he took from wife Jennifer Lopez: https://t.co/yBVuMoYBYp pic.twitter.com/QbAuaXRJRN
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“That was the worst experience I’ve ever seen in a business which is full of some sh***y experiences,” he added. “It broke my heart.”
“And I started to drink too much,” the actor continued. “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” star and husband of Jennifer Lopez also said that the experience left such a bad “taste” in his mouth he decided not to direct his own “Batman” film.
Initially, Zach Snyder was in charge of directing the DC movie but left during production after a death in his family. Joss Whedon stepped in to help, but Affleck said it just made things worse.
“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,'” the “Good Will Hunting” star said. “And it wasn’t the secret. That was hard.”
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Affleck said if DC came to him now and asked him to direct a movie he wouldn’t work under James Gunn, as previously reported. Gunn and Peter Safran recently took over as heads for DC Studios.
“I would not direct something for the [James] Gunn DC,” Affleck said. “Absolutely not.”
“I have nothing against James Gunn,” he added. “Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that. I’m not interested in that.”
The “Deep Water” star was previously married to actress Jennifer Garner for more than a decade. The two share three kids. Lopez and Affleck rekindled their romance in 2021 and finally walked down the aisle at a chapel in Las Vegas in July 2022, 18 years after they got engaged for the first time.