Ben Affleck Reflects on Parents' Deaths, Finding New Appreciation
The actor shared how the back-to-back losses of his mother and father have led him to reevaluate his childhood and deepen his understanding of his mother's sacrifices.
Ben Affleck has spoken publicly for the first time about the profound impact of losing both his parents within months of each other. The 54-year-old filmmaker's father, Timothy Affleck, passed away in April, followed by the death of his mother, Chris Affleck, in June.
Appearing on Kerry Washington's podcast "Streets We Grow Up On," Affleck shared that the dual losses have prompted him to view his own childhood through a different lens. "It's sort of a big thing, and it's caused me to start thinking about my own childhood in ways that [have] been a little bit different," he told Washington.
He added that the experience has led to a deeper appreciation of his mother's efforts. "I've certainly learned to even more deeply appreciate my mom and really value and see what she did and what the sacrifice and commitment that she made and how complete it was."
Chris Affleck died on June 2 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. Ben's brother, Casey Affleck, revealed in early September that their father had also passed away earlier in the year. While promoting his film "Company" at the Venice Film Festival, Casey dedicated the movie to his parents, stating, "I really wanted to show this movie to them, and I didn't get to. I think they would have liked it."
During his conversation with Washington, Ben Affleck mentioned discovering letters his mother had written before he was born, which offered him new insights into her life beyond her role as a parent. He expressed being struck by his mother's ability to balance her professional life with being a fully present mother and her close relationship with her grandchildren.
In addition to Ben and Casey, Timothy and Chris Affleck are survived by five grandchildren: Indiana, Violet, Atticus, Fin, and Sam. Chris Affleck's obituary noted that her grandchildren were the "animating force of her last two decades." She had reportedly been given six months to live last December and her final wish was to attend her grandson's high school graduation, which she did in May, passing away days later. Timothy Affleck, who largely stayed out of the public eye, made an appearance in Casey's 2010 mockumentary "I'm Still Here."
Chris Affleck was a graduate of Harvard University and a public school teacher for 35 years. In a 2012 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Ben described his mother as having "made the most of an elite education while remaining skeptical of the tightly cloistered world it represented."