Ben Affleck has been keeping his private life mostly out of the spotlight, but he just opened up about the two women who once played important roles in his life.
In a surprising admission, the Hollywood star came to Jennifer Lopez’s defense — and revealed something he still hopes to do with his ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
Opening up about both women
Ben Affleck’s love life has been a Hollywood headline for decades, but his relationships with Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Garner have continued to shape his life in very different ways.
Affleck and Garner were married for 10 years and share three children.
After their divorce, Affleck rekindled his relationship with Lopez, whom he had famously dated and become engaged to years earlier. The pair eventually married in 2022, but Lopez filed for divorce in 2024.
Despite the very public endings to both marriages, Affleck has remained on good terms with the two women. His relationship with Garner has evolved into a close co-parenting partnership, while his professional connection with Lopez continued even after their marriage ended.
Now, Affleck is opening up about both women again — and some of his comments are getting attention.
During a recent interview with Variety, the Oscar-winning actor was asked about Lopez’s acting career and why he believes she has been overlooked by major awards.
The Gone Girl star didn’t pretend he was unbiased.
”I’m biased. I have an enormous amount of respect and admiration for what she can do.”
He went on to question how much awards really say about an actor’s talent, pointing out that voting is subjective and that he doesn’t always agree with who takes home the biggest prizes.
”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 come after Lopez’s acclaimed performance in Kiss of the Spider Woman, which Affleck helped produce through Artists Equity. He has also previously defended her against the intense attention surrounding their relationship and her documentary about their marriage.
But Lopez wasn’t the only former wife to come up.
Affleck was also asked about Jennifer Garner and his new thriller Animals. The movie almost brought the former couple together on screen — but a major change behind the scenes made that much more complicated.
Understood her decision
Originally, Matt Damon was set to star in the film, while Garner was being considered to play his wife. But when Damon became unavailable and Affleck stepped into the leading role himself, Garner decided it was probably better not to play his on-screen wife.
The reason was obvious: audiences might have had a hard time separating the fictional marriage from the real history between Affleck and Garner.
Affleck understood her 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, calling Garner “very wise in many ways.”
Instead, Kerry Washington took the role.
But Affleck hasn’t ruled out working with Garner again. Quite the opposite.
When asked about the possibility during his Variety interview, he made his feelings clear:
”In a movie, the illusion has to be the thing. And I still want to find something to do with her.”
It’s a telling glimpse at where the two stand today. Affleck and Garner may no longer be married, but they’ve remained close and supportive co-parents while raising their three children together — Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 14.
Affleck has joked that Garner sets such a high standard as a mother that he can’t help but feel like he falls a little short.
“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’s probably doing “about 75 percent as good as your mom.”
Their response? Not quite that generous.
“And they’re like, ‘Maybe 40 percent,’” Affleck recalled with a laugh. “I’m maxing out. Woo, B+!”
The actor has also opened up about what their shared custody arrangement looks like day to day. He explained that he works hard, then heads home to pick the kids up from school and spend time with them when they’re staying with him.
“We have dinner if they agree to hang out with me,” he joked, explaining that the children spend a week with him before switching to their mom for the following week.
Affleck has made it clear that he still has a lot of respect for Garner and is grateful for the relationship they’ve been able to build since their divorce.
“I respect her. I’m grateful for her,” he said of Garner, who is currently in a relationship with tech executive John Miller.
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 is single and that dating simply isn’t a priority for him right now.
Instead, much of his focus is on being there for his children.
That has even influenced the projects he chooses, with Affleck telling Variety that he looks for work based in Los Angeles whenever possible so he can stay close to his family and avoid spending long stretches away from them.
“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.”
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