‘It was awful’: Ben Affleck says filming Justice League was ‘the worst experience’
Actor described that period of life as his ‘nadir’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Ben Affleck has reflected on the unhappiest time of his career: filming Justice League.
The 2017 superhero film, directed by Zack Snyder, starred Ben Affleck as Batman alongside Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, and Gal Gadot.
In the movie, Batman and Gadot’s Wonder Woman recruit The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg after the death of Superman to save the world from the catastrophic threat of Steppenwolf and his army of Parademons.
Speaking in a new, wide-ranging interview in the Los Angeles Times, Affleck said: “It was really Justice League that was the nadir for me.
“That was a bad experience because of a confluence of things: my own life, my divorce [from Jennifer Garner], being away too much, the competing agendas and then Zack’s personal tragedy [Snyder’s daughter Autumn died by suicide in 2017] and the reshooting.
“It just was the worst experience. It was awful. It was everything that I didn’t like about this. That became the moment where I said, ‘I’m not doing this anymore.’ It’s not even about, like, Justice League was so bad. Because it could have been anything.”
Following Justice League, Affleck was set to direct and star in The Batman, which would have been his first time playing DC’s Dark Knight in a solo movie. However, in early 2017, he stepped back as director and sought treatment for alcoholism. Two years later, he officially exited the project.
Speaking about this decision, he said: “I looked at [The Batman] and thought, ‘I’m not going to be happy doing this. The person who does this should love it.’ You’re supposed to always want these things, and I probably would have loved doing it at 32 or something.
“But it was the point where I started to realise it’s not worth it. It’s just a wonderful benefit of reorienting and recalibrating your priorities that once it started being more about the experience, I felt more at ease.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Affleck discussed Jennifer Lopez and the viral “Sad Affleck” meme.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments