Ben Affleck is “grateful” to have a positive coparenting dynamic with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
“I have nothing salacious or all that interesting in my life,” the Animals star, 54, said in an interview with Variety published on Wednesday, October 7. “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. They’re with me for a week, then with their mom for a week.”
Affleck added that his three children with Garner, also 54, “have a great thing with their mom, for whom I’m also really, really grateful.”
“I know things will come up that are hard, and I don’t want to jinx that, but this time in my life as a human being is really wonderful,” he added.
Affleck and Garner met in 2000 on the set of Pearl Harbor and later reconnected while filming Daredevil in 2002. They began dating in 2004 and tied the knot in June 2005, going on to welcome their first child that December. Affleck and Garner then welcomed their second and third kids in January 2009 and February 2012, respectively.
In June 2015, Affleck and Garner announced their separation after 10 years of marriage. The pair filed for divorce in April 2017, and their split was finalized in October 2018, with the exes sharing joint custody of their kids.
Elsewhere in Wednesday’s interview, Affleck shared that his family plays a major part in wanting his production company and studio, Artists Equity, to “maintain Los Angeles as an important hub for film.”
“I’m divorced, I have shared custody, and I don’t want to miss these years,” the Rip star, who was later married to Jennifer Lopez from 2022 to 2025, explained. “My kids are here, and their life is flying by. I don’t want to have to be in Shreveport or New Mexico in order to work. I know some people don’t have the luxury of making those choices. I’m certainly fortunate, but I know from experience that the best crews in the world are in L.A.”
Affleck’s rare coparenting comments come three months after Garner similarly gushed about her relationship with her ex-husband and their roots in L.A.
“There is a time in your life where you do get caught in all of that. And that’s OK,” Garner told Entertainment Weekly in July while reflecting on finding a balance between a successful career and life at home. “That’s a season. And it’s a beautiful thing. I wouldn’t trade a minute of it.”
She added, “My kids are a little bigger [now]. Their dad … has become this incredible coparent. And I have this unbelievable [business] partner who produces with me things that we control and are able to help keep in L.A. … I love making movies anywhere, but I really want to make movies at home.”
