In a new wide-ranging interview with The New York Times, Ben Affleck addresses the fact his departure from The Batman over a potential relapse in his sobriety.
The Batman – which is currently filming under the direction of Matt Reeves – was a project for Ben Affleck for a long time. Eventually, he dropped out of directing, then walked away from the script, and finally, he walked away from the role. With some distance from that chapter of his life now, the actor is looking back a bit more reflectively on what happened.
“I drank relatively normally for a long time,” Affleck said in the interview. “What happened was that I started drinking more and more when my marriage was falling apart. This was 2015, 2016. My drinking, of course, created more marital problems.” Affleck goes on to call his divorce from Jennifer Garner “the biggest regret of my life,” and detailed how it impacted other aspects of his life such as his career.
Affleck admitted that “the troubled shoot for ‘Justice League’ had sapped his interest” for playing Batman, but he was still willing to try a solo film. The final chapter for his take on The Batman came when he showed a friend his script for the film and was told, “I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again.”
The film was handed off to Matt Reeves in Jan. 2017, and is currently in production int he U.K. with Robert Pattinson in the title role. He will be joined by Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman, Paul Dano as The Riddler, Colin Farrel as The Penguin, Andy Serkis as Alfred Pennyworth, John Turturro as Carmine Falcone, and Jeffrey Wright as Commissioner Gordon.
The Batman is scheduled to hit theaters on June 25, 2021. Affleck’s next film will be the upcoming drama, The Way Back.
SOURCE: The New York Times
IMAGE SOURCE: Shutterstock – Ben Affleck – lev radin
