Ben Affleck is opening up about his path to sobriety and the unexpected public attention that came with it. The 52-year-old actor, who has now been sober for more than five years, recently reflected on his personal struggles with alcohol and drug addiction while promoting his film The Way Back, in which he portrays a recovering addict.
Affleck, who has openly acknowledged his own battles with addiction in the past, shared that he never intended to become a public figurehead for sobriety. “I didn’t have any ambitions to be the national spokesman for recovering alcoholics,” he said candidly.
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Though he’s proud of his recovery, the Batman star admitted he was caught off guard by how much his journey became public discourse. “I just find that, I’ve been sober for more than five years, it’s just not something that is at the forefront of my mind. It’s not the central preoccupation of my life,” Affleck explained.
In an interview with GQ, Affleck said he never anticipated that his sobriety would be such a widely discussed topic. “I think it works better that way. And I didn’t ask for that to become something people knew about,” he added.
While Affleck said he might have handled things differently had he known the level of attention it would draw, he remains grounded about the reality of being in the public eye. “But I can’t complain about it either. I understood doing this job and doing this life, if something happened like that, people were going to know about it, and they did.”
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Back in 2021, Affleck revealed on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast that he had embraced sobriety and was committed to maintaining it. Now, with years of clarity behind him, he continues to navigate life with a sense of balance, even as his personal journey remains a topic of interest for many.
Though Affleck never sought the spotlight as a voice for recovery, his honesty continues to resonate with others facing similar struggles — even if it’s not a role he ever intended to play.
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