Ben Affleck Speaks Out About The Price His Children Pay For His And Jennifer Garner’s Fame

Ben Affleck kicked off 2017 on a reflective note, looking back at his rise to fame and the pros and cons that come with it.

The actor recently opened up to The Guardian about how his fame, as well as the fame of estranged wife Jennifer Garner, effects his children. He admitted to the publication that having children changed the way he felt about his starpower, adding that the added scrutiny that comes with being famous is something he tries to shield his three kids from. Affleck, 44, is “at peace” with the fact that he lives under a microscope, but he doesn’t want that for them.

“You become a public figure, and it changes all the rules,” he said. “I’m at peace with paying my own price. What I’m not at peace with is when it invades on my kids’ space and time. They didn’t make any bargains. I try to shelter them as best I can. That’s my only real gripe.”

The actor has been making headlines more than ever recently, with news circulating that he may appear in and direct a standalone “Batman” movie, as well as the shocking June 2015 announcement that he and Garner, 43, were going their separate ways. Affleck addressed the former in the same interview. He assured The Guardian that “The Batman” was still just an “idea.”

“That’s the idea,” Affleck said. “But it’s not a set thing and there’s no script. If it doesn’t come together in a way that I think is really great I’m not going to do it.”

Affleck’s comment came after a report from Entertainment Weekly that he had been given a script in July 2016. The actor reportedly rejected the script because he wasn’t happy with how it came out. At the time, Affleck said he had “a very high bar” set for the film and wouldn’t accept anything less.

“We’re still working on it, and I’m not happy enough with it yet to actually go out there and make a ‘Batman’ movie, for which I have the highest of standards, I would say,” he revealed. “That’s something that would have to pass a very high bar for me. It’s not just like, ‘Yeah, that might be fun, let’s go try this out.’”

As for his marriage, Affleck and Garner remain estranged. The duo have stayed close since making the announcement, living in close proximity, vacationing together and often speaking out in praise of one another’s work. In October 2016, Affleck told Extra that Garner was “a great mom,” adding that he was continually impressed by her. At the time, Garner was in Reno, Nevada, attending an event in support of then presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton.

“She’s in Reno. Doing what she believes in. Which is great. Think it’s awesome. And I’m so impressed by it — her and everything she does,” he told the publication. “She’s a great mom and that’s how it is.”