Ben Affleck shares how he got better and moved on after struggles with alcohol, Part 1 | ABC News

now we have that ABC News exclusive Diane Sawyer's one-on-one interview within Affleck the oscar-winning actor opening up about his struggles and how he found hope Diane as always I opening I open oh thank you so much you know I've interviewed Ben Affleck since he and Matt Damon lit up Hollywood with their youth and their talent and Good Will Hunting and then Ben was the racecar talking faster than anybody reading everything and brimming with optimism but life is life and today he's coming back to talk about the strength you have to find in a tough season Ben Affleck strides into Xavier High School in New York with a signature high-octane energy he is fast talking funny we head to the gym where the junior varsity basketball team is preparing for a playoff game Affleck has a new movie coming out called the way back it's about a group of young basketball players who need to believe in themselves and a struggling coach who needs faith too that he could overcome addiction and reclaim his life which one's me this one this is you oh okay here we go nice to see you again nice to see you again - it looks great I think you were 27 we did our first interview you know 47 and like I said you look the same I'm it's quite visible 47 you can see it not getting away so a Hollywood star is ready to talk about the fault lines of addiction in his life I've been through I got sober when I was younger when I went in 2001 which I now look at it as a sort of a JV version of what really the problem is I'm sober for a couple of years and then I thought you know I want to just drink like a normal person and I want to have wine at dinner and so on and I and you know I was able to I was able to for about eight years he says he kept a kind of balance as he married a beloved actress they had three children watch the Gazelle as they graze and his career as a director brought him a whole new dimension in Hollywood Ben Affleck thank you thank you all very much but he says he learned that sooner or later your vulnerabilities can find you I started to drink more and more and more and it was really hard for me to accept that that meant I was an alcoholic I was I can just go back I was fine before you know I just take a break I just need to slow down I just need it I'm okay you know I mean this isn't me and I started to drink here every day I come home from work and I start to drink and I just sit there drink don't pass out on the couch he says he had wrestled depression for years and added there was rockiness in his marriage and the potent family history we didn't know of a little boy whose grandmother took her life amid alcohol and barbiturates his aunt was an addict so was his father for me seeing my dad was just she was like everyday and that was just life and as that got worse that was really really painful and I always said that'll never be me I'm never gonna do that I wish he had been sober during those formative years but what he's taught me is how important it is for me to be sober now during these formative years for my kids he says his mother was his rock but as his family broke apart he vowed never to repeat it it was the hardest thing for you to be honest with yourself about that I was gonna get divorced that that I never thought I was gonna get divorced I didn't want to get divorced I didn't want to be a divorced person I really didn't want to be a split family with my children and it upset me because it meant I wasn't who I thought I was and that was so painful and so disappointing in yourself in myself two times in the last three years he went to rehab always worried that his drinking was affecting the children at the center of his life I really don't want my children to pay for my sins to be afraid for you or to be afraid for me which is one of the hard parts of being the child of an alcoholic do you think what if my dad gets drunk what if he does something stupid or if he ends up on TMZ you know and it's on my newsfeed and other kids did you watch this I did slip I saw a little bit I saw a little bit of it so yes I guess I did watch some of it although not the whole whole thing I I know what it looks like to be drunk I don't need to watch any more of it a relapse broadcast around the world and he says a wake up call about the dad he is determined to be I took the last half of the year off and I just got to be dad drive him to school pick him up go to the swim meet no just that's where the parenting happens it's in the cracks it's in the moments where there you're just taking them back from soccer and they say something profound or they talk about how they're really feeling about something and it's like that's where you get to be the parent that's the joy of it and that's what I don't want to miss and so he wanted to make the movie about the underdog team that finds a victory on the other side and the coach who comes to believe that what is possible is stronger than what is past my favorite scene in this movie instance a little bit of a spoiler is where my character loses his job because it's really about consequences and you understand how desperate he is to not have to suffer those consequences and how painful that can be every time you say the word pain your face changes what does it do it you go somewhere it's very painful the divorce is very painful and alcoholism a very painful it just are you know if there's something that your child is suffering that that's a level of pain that is just not easily gotten past not easily forgiven not easily forgotten and it's it's hard you're not going to avoid causing your kids pain all pain pain is part of life I take some comfort in that I'm doing my very very best and I hope that that is you know you know I it has to be good enough I have to I don't really have a choice I have to be the man I want to be at this point I don't have any more room for failure of that kind and you know he he said one thing about Jennifer Garner his ex-wife doesn't want to talk about the marriage that was private but he says what I want to say publicly and privately is thank you thank you for being thoughtful considerate responsible and a great mom and person so he is really he has really begun a new path and tomorrow I'm gonna bring you a little more of what he's learned about the causes underlying the alcoholism and also you know famous famous glamorous cover a guy is going to talk what he's learned about women as well oh really seems like some of the things back yes yes definitely and some of the humor he is so funny and you unpredictable as you'll see they say what is possible is greater than what has passed that was powerful that's where he is yeah okay morning sunshine hey thank you you're gonna be back tomorrow and we're one of the way back is his movie and it's out on March 6 everyone to see it tomorrow

Channel: ABC News

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Keywords: Ben Affleck, Good Will Hunting, interview, alcoholic, addiction, The Batman, Diane Sawyer, sober, Jennifer Garner, Hollywood, celeb, GMA, ABC News, The Way Back movie, Ben Affkleck children, Ben Affleck kids, Ben Affleck divorce, Ben Affleck alcoholic, Ben Affleck movies, abc news, good morning america, p_cmsid=2494279, p_vid=news-69095953

Id: hRwcYKZ2YzU

Length: 7min 56sec (476 seconds)

Published: Thu Feb 20 2020