Ben Affleck assures you his life isn't that interesting. Let the man get his coffee in peace

CNN

01-04-2025

When it comes to his life as a celebrity, Ben Affleck doesn't think 'in a very careful way.'
'I'll go out and pick up the packages or deliveries and I don't really care that people are there to take my picture. And some people are probably, I guess you'd call them smarter or more strategic because they think, well: 'I don't want to be seen wearing some T-shirt or spilling some drink,'' Affleck told GQ. 'And I just think: 'Oh f**k it, man, I could give a s**t. I just want to get the coffee.''
The Oscar-winning writer, director and actor is featured on the cover of the latest issue of GQ. In a wide-ranging interview, Affleck shared his thoughts on the 'sad Affleck' memes, his professional path and private life, including his recent divorce from Jennifer Lopez.
The former couple had appeared together in her documentary 'The Greatest Love Story Never Told.' Affleck explained to the publication why he agreed to join his then-spouse in the project,.
'Part of it was, 'Okay, if I'm going to participate in this, I want to try to do it in an honest way and in a way that's interesting.' Because I thought it was an interesting examination,' he said. 'Like I mentioned to you before, there are a lot of people who I think have handled celebrity more adeptly and more adroitly than I have, Jennifer among them. My temperament is to be a little bit more reserved and private than hers. As happens in relationships, you don't always have the same attitude towards these things.'
'And so I thought, Oh, this is interesting because how do you reconcile that? Because exactly what you said is true. I love and support this person. I believe in them. They're great. I want people to see that,' he added. 'And I think the thing that I said in that documentary or the piece that they used was where I said, You don't marry a ship captain and then say, 'Well, I don't like going out in the water.' You've got to own what you knew going into any relationship. And I think it's important to say that wasn't the cause of some major fracture. It's not like you can watch that documentary and go, 'Oh, now I understand the issues that these two had.'
Lopez filed for divorce in August 2024, two years after they married and more than 20 years after the two first met on the set of the comedy, 'Gigli.'
When it comes to their split, Affleck said 'there's no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue.'
'The truth is, when you talk to somebody, 'Hey, what happened?' Well, there is no: 'This is what happened.' It's just a story about people trying to figure out their lives and relationships in ways that we all sort of normally do,' he said.
'The reason I don't want to share that is just sort of embarrassing. It feels vulnerable,' he added.
As for three decades Affleck has unwilling spent as a central tabloid figure, he's still trying to figure out why people remain interested his 'pretty drama-free' life as a 'middle-aged guy.'
'For all the sensational stuff that gets written, if somebody sat down and talked to me about it, and I said, 'Well, this is really the experience,' their eyes would glaze over with boredom,' Affleck said. 'I've been forced into analyzing it to try to figure it out, to understand: What is it? Because naturally you go, like, 'Okay, maybe I'll just wear the same outfit every single day, so the pictures won't be distinguishable.' Or maybe: 'I'll just look like a slob,' and I'm like, nope—then you become the sad Affleck meme spilling the coffee. Which I have to say I think is kind of funny.'
We remain grateful for the memes, Ben.