Ben Affleck recently opened up about the candid opinions his children share regarding his film career.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the actor admitted that his three kids—Violet, 19, Seraphina, 16, and Samuel, 13—are “very tough” when it comes to critiquing his movies. According to Affleck, his children don’t hold back when expressing their disapproval. “They’ll sit right next to me watching a movie and while it’s happening, they’ll say, ‘This is terrible. I mean, this is terrible. Why did you do this?’” the 52-year-old actor joked.
Affleck recalled a particular instance during the COVID-19 pandemic when his kids watched his 1998 film Armageddon. “All the kids were in the house, and I was like, ‘Hey, let’s watch a movie,’” Affleck explained. “Almost immediately, it was like, ‘What? What is this? … Are you kidding me?’” His son Samuel even questioned the film’s logic, to which Affleck humorously responded, “This is not a logic-based film! That is not one of the criteria we used making this!”
Despite the brutal critiques, Affleck revealed that his children actually enjoyed his most recent film, which premieres on Friday. The actor expressed surprise at their praise, noting that they were almost “shocked” by their approval. “They liked it,” Affleck shared, laughing at their disbelief. “It was good. They were shocked as if I got lucky, like this magical accident happened and something I did was OK!”
In addition to discussing his children’s unfiltered opinions, Affleck also spoke about his parenting philosophy during a Today With Jenna & Friends appearance. While he wants to provide for his kids, he believes that giving them everything would be a disservice. He mentioned that his youngest, Samuel, is still coming to terms with not getting everything he asks for, such as a pair of $6,000 sneakers.
