Ben Affleck stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! to give us a peek into his parenting life. He shared how his three kids- Violet, 19, Seraphina, 16, and Samuel, 13 (with ex-wife Jennifer Garner)- aren’t afraid to tell him what’s what when it comes to his work.
“They don’t censor their criticism,” he said with a laugh. “They’ll sit right next to me watching a movie and say things like, ‘This is terrible. I mean, this is terrible. Why did you do this?’”
What’s even funnier is they don’t wait for the credits to roll. According to Ben, his kids are real-time critics. They dissect plot points and question every decision while the movie is still playing.
‘Armageddon’ Takes the Brunt of the Roasting
When Jimmy Kimmel asked if there was one movie that got the most roasting, Affleck said there was one movie that took the brunt of it during their quarantine family movie night: 1998’s Armageddon.
“All the kids were home [during quarantine], and I thought, ‘Let’s watch a movie,’” Affleck said. But it didn’t take long for the criticism to start: “What? What is this? … Are you kidding me?”
His son Samuel, then a tween, was particularly brutal.
A Rare Compliment Leaves Affleck Speechless
Affleck’s new film opens this Friday and he was caught off guard when his kids gave him a rare compliment.
“They liked it,” he said, still sounding stunned. “I was like, ‘What? You really liked it?’ And they were like, ‘Yeah, it was good.’”
Even the kids seemed surprised by their own approval, like it was an accident.
“They acted like I got lucky,” Affleck said. “Like something I did was actually okay!”
Parenting Lessons from the Front Lines
For Affleck, these raw interactions with his kids aren’t just funny—they’re part of the job. While their honesty can be tough to hear, he clearly values their opinion.
“They keep me grounded,” he said. “And honestly, sometimes their advice is better than anything I’d get from a professional.”
And he knows raising teenagers and young adults who aren’t afraid to tell him exactly what they think, even if it hurts a little.
“My son was like, ‘This doesn’t make sense,’” Affleck said. “I had to explain, ‘This is not a logic-based film! That is not one of the criteria we used making this!’”
Despite the brutal honesty, Affleck seems to take it all in stride. He joked that his kids could at least wait until the end before trashing his movies. But clearly, they have no problem being honest from start to finish.”