Ben Affleck may have decades of life experience behind him, but his children aren’t exactly convinced that qualifies him to dish out relationship advice.
The 54-year-old actor revealed that Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 14 – whom he shares with ex-wife Jennifer Garner – have started brutally teasing him about his own dating history whenever he weighs in on their love lives.
Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Thursday, Ben explained that conversations around the family dinner table now often involve his children’s friends, dating dramas and relationships.
© Getty ImagesNaturally, the Oscar winner sometimes tries to offer the benefit of his own experience.
“My kids are talking at dinner and they’ll talk about their friends and the drama and the relationships,” he told host Jimmy Kimmel, adding that he felt he had some “lived experience” worth passing on.
But his advice hasn’t always received quite the response he was hoping for.
© Luis-Rol/X17online.comBen revealed that when he recently began offering his thoughts about one particular relationship, his 17-year-old quickly cut him down with a simple question: “Oh, like you’re the expert on relationships?”
The Argo star admitted that the eye-rolling has now become something of a team sport among his children.
“I’ll kind of launch into something at the dinner table and now I catch them giving each other looks,” he said, before conceding: “I’m the caricature in this story.”
© FilmMagicThe good-natured roasting perhaps hits particularly hard given Ben’s very public romantic history.
He was married to Jennifer Garner from 2005 until their divorce was finalised in 2018. The former couple, who met after working together on Pearl Harbor and Daredevil, have remained close as they co-parent their three children.
Ben later rekindled his famous early-2000s romance with Jennifer Lopez, with the pair marrying in Las Vegas in July 2022 before holding a second wedding celebration in Georgia the following month.
© roll/X17online.comTheir marriage came to an end just two years later, with Jennifer filing for divorce in August 2024 and listing April 26 as their date of separation. Their divorce was finalised in January 2025.
Despite his children’s teasing, Ben appears to have a close relationship with all three, and he and Jennifer Garner have continued to prioritise their family since their split.
The actor was appearing on Jimmy’s show to promote his new Netflix thriller Animals, which also stars Kerry Washington.
© Getty ImagesIn another amusing twist involving his ex-wife, Ben recently revealed that Jennifer Garner had originally been considered to play his on-screen wife in the movie.
However, when the project was reworked and Ben took over the leading role originally intended for Matt Damon, Jennifer declined the idea of playing his wife – a decision Ben joked was “probably for the best”.
