Ben Affleck feels he falls 'short' of ex Jennifer Garner after she shared warning about him playing her husband
Ben Affleck admits he often feels inadequate as a parent compared to his former wife Jennifer Garner, shortly after she issued him a warning about one of his upcoming movie's.
Garner recently pulled out of the upcoming Netflix thriller Animals after a casting shake up put the former couple in a bit of an awkward position.
Affleck was already directing the movie, but when lead actor Matt Damon dropped out, the Gone Girl star decided to take on the role himself.
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This meant he would be playing the husband of his real-life ex-wife in a tense thriller about a rocky marriage.
Recognizing the potential media storm, Garner advised against it.
"I talked to Jen, and she was like, 'We don't wanna do that. You just get baggage'," he told Entertainment Weekly.
Garner ultimately stepped away from the project, but Affleck remains in awe of her abilities as a mom.
In an interview with TODAY's Willie Geist, he praised her parenting skills while discussing their children, 20-year-old Violet, 17-year-old Fin, and 14-year-old Samuel.
"Their mom is spectacular, and always makes me feel like I’m coming up a little short," Affleck confessed.
Before revealing that he tells his kids: "I think I’m doing about 75 percent as good as your mom - and they’re like, 'Maybe 40 percent'."
"I’m maxing out," Affleck joked. "B+."
Breaking down their shared custody arrangement, he explained: "I work hard, and then I go home and pick up the kids from school."
"We have dinner if they agree to hang out with me," the Batman actor continued. "They’re with me for a week, then with their mom for a week."
Affleck has been vocal on his parenting previously, as he shared last year how he and his youngest son went shopping - Samuel asked his dad if he could get a pair of $6,000 Dior shoes.
Giving him a reality check, Affleck told the teen: "That's a lot of lawns you gotta mow there.
"I'm like, ‘Well, if you want that, you can work 1,000 hours at minimum wage - and if you work 1,000 hours, you might not want to spend it on a pair of shoes."
Affleck joked that his son claimed they have the money, but he quickly pointed out that it is actually him who has the money, while his son is broke.
Over the few months, the actor's perspective on family has shifted after losing both of his parents, Chris and Timothy.
"It’s sort of a big thing, and it’s caused me to start thinking about my own childhood in ways that has been a little bit different," he said while appearing as a guest on the Streets We Grew Up On podcast.
"I learned to be able to look at things that I wish were different about my childhood and say they did their best.
"They were dealing with their own stuff and their own childhood trauma."
Timothy Affleck passed away in April at the age of 76, and his ex-wife Chris followed in June at the age of 83.
Topics: Ben Affleck, Entertainment, Netflix
Joe Yates