Actor Ben Affleck has spoken openly about the reasons why he stepped away from the Batman franchise.
In an interview with
The New York Times, Affleck said: "I showed somebody ‘The Batman’ script. They said, ‘I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again."
Affleck revealed that he had struggled with addictive behaviours in 2015 and 2016, saying: "You’re trying to make yourself feel better with eating or drinking or sex or gambling or shopping or whatever. But that ends up making your life worse. Then you do more of it to make that discomfort go away.
"Then the real pain starts. It becomes a vicious cycle you can’t break. That’s at least what happened to me.”
Affleck connects his drinking to the end of his marriage with actress Jennifer Garner, whom he divorced in 2018 after several years of separation. He also said that his own father had been an alcoholic.
During those years, Affleck became a figure of fun on the internet, with one popular meme showing him smoking a cigarette while looking exasperated.
Another meme saw an interview with Affleck and Henry Cavill dubbed over with 'The Sound of Silence' as the camera slowly zooms in on Affleck's face.
