Ben Affleck Said His Daughter Lives Her Life ‘in Opposition’ to the Films He and Jennifer Garner Made 

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner share three children. Their eldest, Violet, has often been spotted with her parents in public, and both Affleck and Garner have spoken highly about her. Affleck said he admires her sharp tongue, even when it is directed at him. He shared why she doesn’t particularly like the career paths of her parents. 

Ben Affleck said his daughter is critical of the movies he’s made

Following the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Affleck said he began to think differently about how to draw people to theaters when there were so many good television shows on at home. He admitted that conversations with his daughter led to this line of thinking.

“My daughter is 17. She lives her life largely in opposition to the work her parents have spent their lives dedicated to, where she’ll say things like, ‘I’m not sure film is really … Do you think it’s a genuine art form?’” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “I like the fact that she has this silver rapier tongue.”

In a separate interview, he said that his daughter is critical of many elements of the films he made.

“There are things where my daughter will be like, ‘This is ableist and disgusting,’ and okay. The way we see stuff has changed a little bit, or a lot in some cases,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “And there are things that seemed they could work at the time and don’t in retrospect.”

He said even the worst movies have taught him something

While Affleck can understand where she’s coming from, he said he can find value in even his worst movies. 2003’s Gigli, for example, was an undisputed flop. Still, he learned from the experience of being on set. It taught him a great deal about directing, which he went on to pursue.

“[Gigli] didn’t work and we did five weeks of reshoots, which we knew were not gonna work. It was a movie that didn’t work … Interestingly, I learned more about directing on that movie than anything else because Marty [Brest] is a brilliant director, really gifted. It’s not like it’s worse than all… there’s a bunch of horrible movies and in terms of losing money, I’ve had five movies — at least! — that have lost more money than Gigli has.”

Ben Affleck reportedly wants his daughter to stay close to Jennifer Lopez amid their separation

When Affleck married Jennifer Lopez in 2021, Violet began forming a close relationship with her stepmother. The couple are reportedly planning to divorce and are trying to make it as easy on Violet and the other children as possible. 

“[They] are trying to make this transition as easy as possible and be gentle on their children,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. “They don’t want to make things more upsetting than they already have been.”

The source said that everyone involved wants Lopez to maintain a relationship with Violet.

“[Lopez and Violet] have gotten close throughout Jen and Ben’s relationship, and maintaining that closeness is important to everyone,” the source said, adding, “Ben certainly doesn’t want to cause any strain between Jen and Violet, and he is in support of them spending time together.”