Ben Affleck ‘respects’ his father for sobriety

Ben Affleck ”respects” his father for his 30 years of sobriety.

The 47-year-old actor has battled with alcohol addiction himself, and has said he is so proud of his father Timothy Affleck for managing to stay sober for three decades, after previously being an alcoholic.

He said: ”My father has thirty years of sobriety and I have a tremendous amount of respect for what that takes and what that means. Part of being an adult is learning that your parents are just people. They’re not perfect. They were just doing their best. As a child, we expect perfection out of our parents.”

Ben says he’s been able to look back at his childhood and say his parents ”did their best”, and no longer blames them for any ”childhood trauma” he endured.

He added: ”I learned to be able to look at things that I wish were different about my childhood and say they [my parents] did their best. They were dealing with their own stuff and their own childhood trauma. The goal is to try and break some of these painful cycles.”

And following his own battle with alcoholism, the ‘Way Back’ star – who has Violet, 14, Seraphina, 11, and Sam, eight, with his ex-wife Jennifer Garner – is using his father as inspiration to help him in his sobriety journey.

Speaking to People magazine, he said: ”My father didn’t get sober until I was 19 and so I know how important those years are and they are all the more critical for me. I also see my Dad’s life for what it is, which is the guy who tried his best, who dealt with addiction and then overcame it.

”My father was definitely a low bottom alcoholic and yet for thirty years, he hasn’t had a drink. And now, I take that as the principal lesson and legacy of his life – is that he dramatically improved it.”

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