Ben Affleck reflects on the iconic ‘Sad Affleck’ meme and how it’s impacted his children

Ben Affleck has opened up about the now iconic video of him staring sadly into space during a press interview for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

In a new interview, Affleck admitted that while he thought the memes triggered by the video were funny, he is now more concerned about the effects it had on his children.

The six-year-old video, with a melancholic soundtrack, shows Affleck, 49, alongside his co-star Henry Cavill when told the film is getting mixed reviews.

And as Cavill launches a professional response, Affleck looks down with a look of utter dismay.

The video, which went viral overnight, quickly became a parody, as YouTuber Sabconth added in a collage of negative review article headlines, as well as Simon and Garfunkel’s song The Sound of Silence.

The actor opened up about the meme and its public perception to the Los Angeles Times, saying: ‘I came to a place where [the public perception] It was so different from what I am that I stopped reading and stopped caring. ‘

He went on to say that he was concerned that his children, Violet, 16, Seraphina, 13, and Samuel, 9, would be affected by this. But then, as my kids got older and started watching the internet themselves, that’s the hard part. Even the “Sad Affleck” meme – that was fun to me. I mean, there is no one who has not felt that way on a trip, “he said.

But then my kids see it and I think, “Oh, are they going to think that their dad is fundamentally sad or that they have to worry about me?” That’s really difficult, ‘added the star.

The actor also reflected on his early years and how his public image did not match his private personality.

“I think when I was young, people saw me as someone who had too much or succeeded too easily or seemed like some kind of arrogant, insincere and inexperienced frat boy,” he said.

That was nothing like how I felt. I felt like some kind of insecure, anxious, overly verbal Boston kid who had tried to break into this business and was dealing with his own thing. But there is something interesting about how we come out in front of who we are, ‘he revealed.

Affleck recently reflected on playing Batman throughout various superhero movies, calling Justice League by far ‘the worst experience’ of all.

The 49-year-old actor called the filming process “horrible” for a “confluence” of reasons, and said it made him want to retire from the superhero before The Flash arrived.

That became the moment when I said, “I won’t do this anymore,” he confessed to the Los Angeles Times while talking about the movie, which he called the ‘nadir’ of his life.

The Tender Bar actor spoke candidly about his involvement in the 2017 DC Comics movie, and how it was the catalyst for now just taking on projects that make him ‘happy’.

It really was the Justice League that was the low point for me. That was a bad experience due to a confluence of things: my own life, my divorce, being too far away, competing schedules, and then [director] Zack [Snyder]personal tragedy [Snyder’s daughter Autumn died by suicide in 2017] and the new take.

‘It was just the worst experience. It was horrible, ‘he continued. ‘It was all I didn’t like about this. That became the moment where I said, “I’m not going to do this anymore.”

Despite his seemingly harsh words, Affleck said he probably would have shared the same feelings about “whatever” project he took on at that point in his life.

“ It’s not even about, like the Justice League is that bad. Because it could have been anything, ‘he shared.

In addition to his divorce from Jennifer Garner after more than a decade of marriage, Affleck was also battling alcohol abuse, for which he later sought treatment.

Before the movie, he had stopped directing and starring in The Batman: “I looked at it and thought, ‘I’m not going to be happy doing this,” he told the publication.

“ It was the point where I started to realize that it’s not worth it, ” he shared, adding that he later made the poor decision to sign into the Justice League, which pushed him over the edge.

By comparison, Affleck later praised his retaliation from Batman in the 2022 film The Flash, calling it his ‘favorite’ portrayal of the character thus far, adding that the experience was ‘really fun.’

“ I never said this, this is fresh off the press, but maybe my favorite scenes in terms of Batman and the interpretation of Batman that I did were in the Flash movie, ” he told the Herald Sun.

‘I hope they keep the integrity of what we did because I thought it was cool and really interesting, different, but not in a way that is incongruous with the character. They may decide that it doesn’t work. But when I went and did it, it was a lot of fun and very, very satisfying and encouraging, and I was like, “Wow, I think I’ve finally figured it out.”