Ben Affleck recently opened up about how much he regrets his divorce from Jennifer Garner. This week, following an emotional appearance on Good Morning America, the actor spent time with his ex-wife in Los Angeles.
The pair—who have been coparenting their three children, Violet, 14, Seraphina, 11, and Samuel, 8, after finalizing their divorce in 2018—were photographed together for the first time since Affleck began his particularly personal press tour for his new film The Way Back.
You could almost say the two were matching, with Affleck in a black long-sleeve shirt, dark gray pants, and gray shoes while Garner wore a black T-shirt, blue jeans, and gray boots.
In The Way Back, Affleck plays a basketball coach dealing with addiction.
The actor described the film as “hard to make,” largely because of the parallels to the actor’s real-life battle with alcoholism.
Affleck also says he’s been dealing with the fallout from his marriage with Garner, which he told the New York Times was an eye-opening experience.
“The biggest regret of my life is this divorce,” he said. “Shame is really toxic. There is no positive byproduct of shame. It’s just stewing in a toxic, hideous feeling of low self-worth and self-loathing.”
He went deeper on Good Morning America, explaining that he never imagined his marriage would end. “I never thought that I was going to get divorced.
I didn’t want to get divorced. I didn’t want to be a divorced person. I really didn’t want to be a split family with my children,”
he said. “And it upset me because it meant I wasn’t who I thought I was. And that was so painful and so disappointing in myself.”
Though the divorce has obviously been painful, Affleck and Garner are still working as a team to raise their kids.
He recently thanked her on social media for supporting him through rehab. On GMA, he took a few minutes to read a note he’d written to Garner.
“Thank you,” he read. “Thank you for being thoughtful, considerate, responsible, and a great mom and person.”
