Actor Ben Affleck admitted his real life experience helped him prepare for more complex movie roles during a round table Wednesday with The Hollywood Reporter.
Affleck specifically pointed to his struggles with alcoholism and how it prepared him for the role in his latest movie “The Way Back,” the outlet reported.
THR Cover, Actor Roundtable: @BenAffleck, @SachaBaronCohen, @AuthenticDelroy Lindo, Gary Oldman, John David Washington and @SteveYeun on their liberating roles
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 24, 2021
“The movie was much more about the fact that — whether it’s having lived enough years, having seen enough ups and downs, having had children and divorce — I’m at a point now in my life where I have sufficient life experience to bring to a role to make it really interesting for me,” Affleck explained, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Ben Affleck Opens Up About How His Alcoholism Almost Ruined His Family)
“I’m not good enough to just invent it from whole cloth, you know?” he continued. “I didn’t have to do research for the alcoholism aspect of the movie — that was covered. It was the Daniel Day-Lewis approach to that!”
This is honestly why I and so many others love Affleck. He’s always been so open and vulnerable with his problems. Affleck is an amazing actor, but there’s no doubt that his experiences and things he’s lived through makes him one of the best of all time.
He’s lived through alcoholism struggles, his divorce with Jennifer Garner and a Dunkin Donuts addiction.