Ben Affleck’s kids clearly aren’t about to let him live down his complicated relationship history.
During a Sept. 24 appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Affleck revealed that one of his teenagers roasted him not once, but twice—first when he attempted to give relationship advice and later after they came across a book with a particularly fitting title.
Affleck explained that conversations about friendships, dating, and relationship drama often come up when his family gathers around the dinner table. Considering his own experiences, the actor thought he had a few lessons worth passing down.
“My kids are talking at dinner and they, you know, they’ll talk about their friends and the drama and the relationships,” Affleck said. “And I have some lived experience. So, I think that’s worth sharing some lessons that I, you know, these are the kind of things we give to our children.”
However, his 17-year-old wasn’t exactly convinced.
“I said, ‘Well the thing about that relationship there with that person is—’ and the 17-year-old just turns to me and goes, ‘Oh, like you’re the expert on relationships?’” Affleck recalled.
And the jokes didn’t end there.
Affleck said they later stopped by a bookstore, where his teen noticed a book by a French author titled I’m Sorry for Everything.
“Oh look, Dad, it’s your autobiography,” the teen quipped.
Rather than take offense, Affleck admitted he had to give credit where it was due.
“I was kind of proud of them, though. Like, ‘My kid’s, that’s a good line. I like that,’” he said.
Affleck shares three children with his ex-wife Jennifer Garner: Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 14. He also joked that his kids have gotten to the point where they can communicate their reactions to him just by exchanging glances with each other.
Given Affleck’s romantic history, his teen certainly has plenty of material to work with. Affleck married Garner in 2005 before the pair separated in 2015 and finalized their divorce in 2018. He later rekindled his relationship with Jennifer Lopez nearly two decades after their first engagement. The two married in 2022, before Lopez filed for divorce in 2024.
Elsewhere in his conversation with Kimmel, Affleck revealed that he had considered casting Garner as his wife in his upcoming film Animals. She ultimately turned down the role.
“Jen was like, ‘Great, but no, I’m not gonna play your wife in a movie,’” Affleck said. “Probably for the best. That lesson has been learned.”
Despite her decision, Affleck had nothing but kind words for Garner and the relationship they share today.
“She’s fabulous, and we’re really good friends, and I’m profoundly grateful to her, and we have a great thing,” he said.
Affleck ultimately took on the lead role in Animals alongside Kerry Washington after Matt Damon exited the project to work on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
