Ben Affleck reflects on playing an alcoholic in ‘The Way Back’

Affleck has publicly discussed his own battle with alcoholism and his sobriety journey in the past.

Ben Affleck, who is a recovering alcoholic, recently opened up about playing the role of an alcoholic in the 2020 film The Way Back. The actor played the role of Jack Cunningham, a former high school basketball star who walked away from the sport only to return to the game as coach of his alma mater’s team. Throughout the movie, viewers learn about the pain Jack has experienced from his battle with alcoholism, the end of his marriage, and the loss of his child.

Affleck recently reflected on the film and why it resonates with him. He said in a recent roundtable discussion with The Hollywood Reporter, “I’m a recovering alcoholic and I played an alcoholic in the movie.” The actor added, “It’s really about grief and losing a child, which, thank God, I have not experienced, and is probably the worst thing you can experience. But also, a lot of it is about alcoholism.”

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Affleck has publicly discussed his own battle with alcoholism and his sobriety journey in the past. “Alcoholism, in and of itself, and compulsive behavior, are not inherently super interesting, but what is sometimes interesting is what you discover about yourself in the course of recovery and trying to figure out what went wrong, how to fix it, how you want your life to look and what kind of ethics you want to live by,” he continued.

Affleck said, “So yes, I’m an alcoholic. Yes, I had a relapse. Yes, I went into recovery again. And then I went and did that movie.” Like his character, Affleck has also gone through a separation. In 2015, he and actor Jennifer Garner announced their decision to divorce.

The former couple, who married in 2005 and share children Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel, officially filed it in 2017 and finalised their split in 2018.

The actor said, “But for me, the movie was much more about the fact that — whether it’s having lived enough years, having seen enough ups and downs, having had children and divorce — I’m at a point now in my life where I have sufficient life experience to bring to a role to make it really interesting for me.”