Ben Affleck has largely kept his personal life away from the spotlight recently. However, the Hollywood actor has now opened up about two women who once played major roles in his life.
In a surprising admission, Affleck came to Jennifer Lopez’s defense while also revealing that he still hopes to work on a project with his former wife, Jennifer Garner.
Opening Up About Both Women
Ben Affleck’s relationships have attracted Hollywood headlines for decades, but his connections with Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Garner have influenced different chapters of his life.
Affleck and Garner were married for 10 years and share three children.
Following their divorce, Affleck reunited with Lopez, whom he had previously dated and become engaged to years earlier. The couple eventually married in 2022, but Lopez filed for divorce in 2024.
Despite the public attention surrounding both relationships and their endings, Affleck has maintained respectful connections with the two women. His relationship with Garner has developed into a close co-parenting partnership, while his professional association with Lopez continued even after their marriage ended.
Now, Affleck is speaking about both former partners again, and his remarks are attracting attention.
In a recent interview with Variety, the Oscar-winning actor was asked about Lopez’s acting abilities and why he believes her performances have not received the recognition they deserve from major awards organizations.
The Gone Girl star openly acknowledged that his opinion was personal.
“I’m biased. I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for what she can do.”
Affleck also questioned how accurately awards reflect an actor’s abilities. He explained that voting is subjective and that he does not always agree with the winners of major film awards.
“I don’t always think the right person won the right award. But guess what? I don’t think you die and go to heaven, and God says, ‘This was the actual best picture in 1986.’ At the end of the day, it’s just a bunch of people voting on movie prizes.”
His comments follow Lopez’s widely praised performance in Kiss of the Spider Woman, which Affleck helped produce through Artists Equity. He has also previously defended her amid the intense public attention surrounding their relationship and her documentary about their marriage.
However, Lopez wasn’t the only former wife discussed during the interview.
Affleck was also asked about Jennifer Garner and his latest thriller, Animals. The project nearly brought the former couple together on screen, but an unexpected change during production made that possibility more complicated.
Understood Her Decision
Initially, Matt Damon was expected to star in the movie, while Garner was being considered for the role of his wife. However, when Damon became unavailable and Affleck took over the leading role, Garner decided that playing his on-screen wife might not be the best choice.
The reason was understandable. Viewers could have found it difficult to separate the fictional relationship from the real-life history between Affleck and Garner.
Affleck understood why she made that decision.
“She was like, ‘Yeah. Great, but no, I’m not going to play your wife in a movie.’ Probably for the best. That lesson’s been learned,” he previously explained, describing Garner as “very wise in many ways.”
Kerry Washington ultimately took the role instead.
Still, Affleck hasn’t ruled out the possibility of working with Garner in the future. In fact, he seems interested in making it happen.
Asked about the idea during his Variety interview, he made his position clear:
“In a movie, the illusion has to be the thing. And I still want to find something to do with her.”
His comments offer an interesting glimpse into their relationship today. Although Affleck and Garner are no longer married, they have maintained a close and supportive co-parenting relationship while raising their three children: Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 14.
Affleck has previously joked that Garner is such an exceptional mother that he sometimes feels he cannot match her parenting standards.
“Their mom is spectacular,” Affleck said in a preview of an upcoming episode of Sunday Today with Willie Geist.
He jokingly told his children that he was probably doing “about 75 percent as good as your mom.”
Their response, however, was considerably less flattering.
“And they’re like, ‘Maybe 40 percent,'” Affleck recalled with a laugh.
“I’m maxing out. Woo, B+!”
The actor has also discussed how their shared custody arrangement works in everyday life. He explained that after working, he makes time to pick up the children from school and spend time with them whenever they are staying at his home.
“We have dinner if they agree to hang out with me,” he joked, explaining that the children spend one week with him before spending the following week with their mother.
Affleck has repeatedly expressed his respect for Garner and appreciation for the positive relationship they have maintained since their separation.
“I respect her. I’m grateful for her,” he said of Garner, who is currently in a relationship with technology executive John Miller.
Garner has also spoken positively about Affleck’s role as a father. She described him as an “incredible co-parent,” praising him as “wonderful,” saying he takes good care of their children and is a “great partner” in raising them.
She also explained that their arrangement has become “very freeing” as their children have grown older.
Who Is Ben Affleck Dating?
Ben Affleck is not currently dating anyone. While promoting his Netflix film Animals in October 2026, the actor said he was single and that finding a new relationship was not a priority for him at the moment.
Instead, much of his attention remains focused on his children and being present in their lives.
That priority has even influenced the professional opportunities he considers. Affleck told Variety that he prefers projects based in Los Angeles whenever possible, allowing him to remain close to his family rather than spending extended periods working elsewhere.
“I’m divorced, I have shared custody, and I don’t want to miss these years. My kids are here, and their life is flying by,” he said.
“I don’t want to have to be in Shreveport or New Mexico in order to work. I know some people don’t have the luxury of making those choices. I’m certainly fortunate, but I know from experience that the best crews in the world are in L.A.”
