Ben Affleck’s kids are his toughest critics.
The Accountant 2 star revealed on the Wednesday, April 23, episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live that his three children don’t pull any punches when it comes to their dad’s work.
“My kids are very tough and they don’t censor their criticism,” said Affleck, who shares Violet, 19, Seraphina, 16, and Samuel, 13, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner.
“I mean, they’ll sit right next to me watching a movie and while it’s happening [say], ‘This is terrible. I mean, this is terrible. Why did you do this?’” Affleck, 52, continued. “Like, you could wait till it ended, you know what I mean?”
One movie that earned the ire of the teenagers is Affleck’s 1998 hit Armageddon, directed by Michael Bay.
“During COVID, all the kids were in the house and I was like, ‘Hey, let’s watch a movie.’ I thought maybe the kids will like Armageddon. Almost immediately, it was like, ‘What? What is this? This is so stupid. Are you kidding me?’” Affleck recalled. “My son was like, ‘This doesn’t make sense.’ This is not a logic-based film! That is not one of the criteria we used making this!”
The Oscar winner’s latest role in The Accountant 2 was better received, however.
“They liked it. At first, it was one of those things like … what’s the catch? I was like, ‘What? You really liked it?’ They’re like, ‘Yeah, it was good,’” Affleck said.
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“They were shocked as if I got lucky, like this magical accident happened and something I did was OK!” the actor quipped.
Earlier this week, Affleck revealed how he keeps his kids grounded by having them earn their own money.
“My oldest two have jobs. In fact, one just got a job, the kind of classic teenager working a shop job — I won’t say what it is,” Affleck said during an appearance on Today with Jenna & Friends on Tuesday, April 22. “My older one in college is working and trying to get an internship for the summer.”
The actor also spoke candidly about the viral moment when he turned down Samuel, who asked for a $6,000 pair of sneakers.
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“He wanted these sneakers, and I was like, ‘These sneakers are $6,000, what are you talking about? What are you gonna do, mow lawns? You got $6,000?’” Affleck joked. “He was like, ‘We have the money.’ I was like, ‘I have the money! You’re broke.’”
Affleck told host Jenna Bush Hager and guest host Andy Cohen that “you do [kids] a disservice” by not making them work for things.
“You love your kids,” he added. “You want to give them everything and do everything for them.”
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Just not when it comes to a $6,000 pair of shoes.
“My son, who’s 13, he’s reckoning with that reality right now. He’s looking at no shoes in his closet. Well, he’s got shoes, just no crazy expensive fancy shoes,” Affleck continued. “And I’m like, ‘Well, if you want that, you can work 1,000 hours.’ You know what I mean? Minimum wage. And once you work 1,000 hours, you may not want to spend that on a pair of sneakers.”
