Ben Affleck said he adapted his filmmaking career into a 9-to-5 job so that he could spend more time with his three teenage children.
In a new GQ interview, Affleck said he realized that being present as a parent was important to him, so he wanted to avoid spending multiple days on sets away from his children.
“I was really missing time I could never get back. My kids were 8, 11, and 14, and I felt like: I don’t want to miss any of this time at all,” Affleck said. “And so I thought, well, Let me figure out a way to work at home and have the kind of job where I can actually be here and build my schedule around that.”
Affleck co-parents three children with his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner: Violet Anne Affleck, 19, Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck, 16, and Samuel Affleck, 13.
Affleck told GQ he developed a better work-life balance while working at Artists Equity, a production company he co-founded with his longtime friend and collaborator Matt Damon and investing partner Gerry Cardinale. Since the company’s founding in 2022, they have produced the critically acclaimed sports movie “Air” and the upcoming action sequel, “The Accountant 2,” among others.
“Part of what’s great about this Artists Equity job, part of why I love it, is because I’m in LA,” Affleck said. “When we’re done at 2:30, I’m going to go, and I’ll be home at 3:45 when my kids get off the bus. And I’m able to construct a life that does that. And that means more to me than any of it. That makes me happier.”
Affleck also told GQ that he now avoids directing more films because they can be time-consuming.
“The one regret I have about all the movies that I’ve directed is the amount of time it’s taken me away from my kids,” he said. “I love making art. I loved making ‘The Town.‘ But I was away from my kids for long periods of time. There’s little chunks that I missed, and that doesn’t feel good.”
Other celebrities, such as Kieran Culkin and Eva Mendes, have also opened up about how they balance their careers with raising children.
Mendes told the “Today” show in 2024 that she took a hiatus from acting to pursue other projects, like writing a children’s book and raising her two children with Ryan Gosling.
“I still work. I just didn’t act because acting takes you on locations. It takes you away,” Mendes said.
Meanwhile, Culkin, who won his first Oscar earlier this month, told the Guardian in 2024 that he has a rule to not spend more than 8 days on set away from his children.
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