Affleck’s parents divorced when he was just 12, and although the actor admitted that “the marriage was so bad that I remember feeling relief,” he struggled with the aftermath. His grades suffered, and he struggled to “trial-and-error [his] was towards manhood,” saying, “I was a bit of a f*** up […] I just lost focus and stopped caring.”

Affleck’s tragic family history goes beyond his father, and the actor has said, “There’s a lot of alcoholism and mental illness in my family. The legacy of that is quite powerful and sometimes hard to shake.” Living through these hardships and seeing their effects up close gave Affleck a sense of perspective, and the actor revealed, “I always said that’ll never be me,” in regards to addiction.

Unfortunately, Affleck has suffered from addiction himself. Although the actor got sober in 2001, he began drinking casually in 2003 and suffered a relapse eight years later. Affleck has spoken out about the shame he felt, which only led him to drink more, but with the help of Bradley Cooper and Robert Downey Jr., he was able to get sober again.

In the early 2000s, Affleck found himself in a career slump, gaining notoriety for his personal life as opposed to his acting work. The actor’s self-esteem took a hit as he was the target of a barrage of media hate, and as he said, “You can’t help but be critical of yourself.” However, Affleck’s biggest concern was his children, who were also constantly targeted by the media.