Actor Ben Affleck has been praised for his candid conversation about his struggles with alcohol, revealing the moment he knew he had a problem.
The Oscar winner is one of the most famous faces in Hollywood, with movie credits to boot, but his personal life hasn’t been so glitz and glam.
In fact, for years, Affleck had been struggling with alcoholism, which, now that he is sober, has allowed him to reflect on those years of ‘pain’.
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Sitting down for an exclusive with ABC News in 2020, which saw him open up to the infamous interviewer Diane Sawyer, Affleck discussed his sobriety and divorce from Jennifer Garner, and what it meant for his future.
He explained: "I got sober - when I was younger in 2001.
"Which I now look at as sort of a JV version of what really a problem is."
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The actor shared: "I was sober for a couple of years. And then I thought, 'You know, I wanna just drink like a normal person. And I wanna have wine at dinner’.
"I was able to for about eight years."
However, it wouldn’t last long, and the cracks began to show.
At the time, he was married to Garner, and they had three children together when his career as a director took off.
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He revealed that these new heights took him to a dark place with his drinking and it led him to realise that he was an alcoholic.
Affleck said: "I started to drink more, and more, and more. And it was really hard for me to accept that that meant that I was an alcoholic.
"I was like, 'I could just go back. I was fine before. You know, I just need to take a break. I just need to slow down.'"
But he just wasn’t able to pull back enough to get his head above water and it spiralled even worse.
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He told Sawyer: "I started to drink every day. I mean, I'd come home from work and I'd start to drink. And then I'd just sit there and drink 'till I pass out on the couch.”
Affleck admitted that he struggled with his own family history of addiction; his grandmother took her own life after developing an addiction, and his aunt and his father have also struggled with alcohol.
He explained what that was like: "He was drunk every day and that was just life. And that was what it was.
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"And as that got worse, that was really, really painful. And I always said, 'That'll never be me. I am never gonna do that.'"
He continued: "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 this formative years for my kids."
Fans have since praised him for his candid interview online, with one person writing: “Excellent interview. Ben explained so well the alcoholism, real.”
Someone else wrote: “Much respect to you for sharing your story. It will inspire other functional and nonfunctional alcoholics!!”
Another said: “You know he didn’t have to tell anyone anything about it if he didn’t want to, but he knows we are sick as our secrets. So good for him! I hope he is able to stay on the right path this time!”
He told Sawyer that he ‘didn't wanna be a divorced person’ who had a ‘split family’ but his struggles were evidently ruining his life.
When he ended up on a TMZ video in October 2019 that showed his relapse for the world to see, it was a wakeup call.
He shared about his journey: "I'm doing my very, very best. And I hope that that is - you know - it has to be good enough. I have to - I don't really have a choice.”
As of now, he is still committed to maintaining his sobriety, even through his troubled marriage and divorce from Jennifer Lopez.
A source told In Touch that through it all, 'he's managed to stay fully sober'.
Topics: Alcohol, Ben Affleck, Celebrity, Health, Mental Health, UOKM8
Britt Jones