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17 Feb 2026 10:13
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  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Ben Affleck hopes his kids "don't waste their life acting"

    The Hollywood actor is father to three children - Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Samuel, 13 - with his ex-wife Jennifer Garner and he's adamant the former couple " would "never push" their kids into the family business.


    Speaking to E! News at the premiere of his new film The Rip, Affleck explained: "You put something on your children when you have a public life and that's complicated,. We really want to give them room to figure out what they want to do.

    "I wouldn't push them into that. They're brilliant and lovely and wonderful and we love them and we're proud of them and hope that they don't waste their life acting."

    He went on to admit his children's upbringing is very different to his own, adding: "In some way, it was kind of a blessing to [have] anonymity, to struggle, to where we started, which was just in the middle of nowhere."

    Affleck previously opened up about how proud he is of his kids, especially eldest daughter Violet, who he describes as very similar to her mother Jennifer.

    He told Access Hollywood: "[Violet] takes after her mom. She's spectacular. I could not be more proud of my children. I can't even tell you.

    "And I'm very lucky that I've got a great partner and that we got great kids. It's the joy of my life and I'm just very, very lucky. And it makes me happy every day."

    Garner - who split from Affleck in 2015 after a decade of marriage - also opened up about parenting in a recent interview with Marie Claire UK.

    She said of her kids: "They're just so cool! Parenting now has shifted. It's more about parenting with a button on my mouth ... You have to let them grow up and make their choices. You don't get to control it."

    She also spoke about the former couple's split admitting it was "hard" breaking up the family.

    Jennifer told the publication: "You have to be smart about what you can and can't handle, and I could not handle what was out there. But what was out there was not what was hard. The fact of it is what was hard.

    "The actual breaking up of a family is what was hard. Losing a true partnership and friendship is what was hard."

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

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