Ben Affleck Hopes His 3 Kids with Jennifer Garner ‘Don’t Waste Their Life Acting’: ‘I Wouldn’t Push Them Into That’

Ben Affleck doesn’t expect his and ex-wife Jennifer Garner’s three children to follow in their Hollywood footsteps.

At The Rip world premiere on Tuesday, Jan. 13, Affleck, 53, opened up about the prospect of their three kids — Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, or Samuel, 13  — pursuing acting.

“You put something on your children when you have a public life and that’s complicated,” Affleck told E! News. “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,” the Oscar winner said before jokingly adding, “and hope that they don’t waste their life acting.”

The Argo actor acknowledged how his children’s upbringing differs from his own, saying, “In some way, it was kind of a blessing to anonymity, to struggle, to where we started, which was just in the middle of nowhere.” 

In October, Affleck briefly spoke about his children in a conversation with Access Hollywood, saying, “[Violet] takes after her mom. She’s spectacular.” 

The Good Will Hunting star celebrated their eldest daughter’s testimony at the United Nations in September about the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children. 

“I could not be more proud of my children. I can’t even tell you,” he said. “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,” 

Affleck’s Jan. 13 conversation follows Garner’s comments about their kids in an interview with Marie Claire UK.

“They’re just so cool!” the mom of three said. “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.”

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Garner also spoke to the couple’s breakup and its impact on their family. “The actual breaking up of a family is what was hard.”

The exes married in 2005, split in 2015 and officially divorced in 2018. “Losing a true partnership and friendship is what was hard,” she said.