Ben Affleck talks about raising his 3 kids, ‘Justice League’ and Matt Damon

Ben Affleck

Los Angeles—The beard was for “Justice League” and that was all Ben Affleck could tell us about the shrouded-in-secrecy Warner Bros. movie. “I have to grow this out for my last scene as Bruce Wayne in ‘Justice League,’” said Ben about the Zack Snyder film that will feature the world’s greatest superheroes, from Batman and Wonder Woman to Superman.

“If you look at the ‘Justice League’ teaser, I have a beard in it,” said Ben, whose Batman physique was evident in his long-sleeved blue shirt. “I have to do a scene that cuts into that sequence, so I have to grow my beard back out. We shoot in Iceland in a couple of weeks, so I have no time to waste.”

Asked to share some more about the fifth installment in the DC Extended Universe, Ben laughed as he replied, “I can tell you that it’s very exciting. You’re going to love the movie, but they’d kill me if I gave away any of its big secrets.”

Ben was more candid about raising his three kids with his estranged wife, Jennifer Garner—Violet, 10; Seraphina, 7; and Samuel, 4. He also talked proudly about his younger brother, Casey Affleck, who is earning raves in “Manchester by the Sea.”

The actor-director also chatted about being directed by other people, including Gavin O’Connor, in “The Accountant.” In the action-crime-drama, Ben plays Christian Wolff, a math savant who also happens to be on the autism spectrum. The CPA was raised by a very strict dad who taught his sons to fight their way out of conflict, military-style.

Excerpts from our talk:

As a dad in real life, can you comment on how your character’s father in the movie raised his sons? I am definitely aware of how, when you have children, the most important thing in your life all of a sudden is outside of you. It’s an incredibly vulnerable feeling, because you are so worried about that. You want them to be protected and safe and to grow up healthy.

The world can seem scary. This movie is about the temptation in some ways to overreact to that fear, and what a father does in terms of training and pushing his sons. He does that out of love and fear that one day they might be taken advantage of—but ultimately, it’s destructive.

We can sometimes do damage even when we think we’re doing the right thing or helping our children. Parenthood is enormously complicated. I certainly haven’t figured it out. It’s just trial and error, as far as I can tell. But I know that the family theme is part of what attracted me to the movie.

What did your own father pass on to you, and what are you passing on to your children? Gosh, I wish my father taught me martial arts. Because I would be a trained killer now (laughs). No, I stress all the things in a small way—like make your kids practice piano. They hate it, but when they grow up and they can play, it’s a gift.

This movie takes to the extreme the fear we have about our kids being vulnerable, how they need to be protected and toughened up for the world. You can look at it in two ways. One, he prepared these two men in an exceptional way to take on the challenges of life.

The other is that he has coarsened their lives and put them in a place where they’re more likely to actually encounter violence or conflict. It’s hard enough to impart the basic values that you have in your life to your kids—to be a good person, respectful, grateful, well-mannered and to be critical thinkers. I am just working on the basics.

Being a filmmaker yourself, how challenging is it for you as an actor to be directed by other people? What do you do to keep your mouth shut? (Laughs) I work with really good directors. I have to pick people whom I truly respect—otherwise, it would be frustrating. It’s liberating to work with a good director. I don’t have so much anxiety and stress. If the set goes down, it’s not my job. I can just go to my trailer and wait until they figure it out.

It’s a heavy responsibility to be directing 300 people on a crew, getting the movie done on time and on budget, and so on. Whereas with your performance as an actor, you get to just focus on that—and that, by itself, is quite freeing.

When directors say, “This is how I imagine it going,” what I think is not how to challenge that, but how to make that happen, how to support them and help bring their vision to life. So yeah, I can successfully keep my mouth shut.

Talk about your relationship with your brother Casey, who is marvelous in “Manchester by the Sea.” We are close, and we’re always trying to put together things to work on. Our company was a producer on “Manchester by the Sea.” Casey is just incredible in the movie.

Casey has always been a great actor. It’s just hard to find roles that let you do as much. Kenneth Lonergan wrote a great script, and it gives Casey the chance to show so much, like in that movie he did with Brad Pitt, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.” He is just enormously gifted, and it’s so much fun to watch. I am impressed by him and his work.

Do your kids and Casey’s get to hang out? Our kids hang out. We both live here in LA, so it’s nice when our mother comes out, and she can see all of her grandchildren in one place. They came and stayed with me. Casey and his kids also came and stayed with me in London while we were doing “Justice League.”

Matt Damon wonders when you are going to make a movie where you cast him in the starring role and not yourself. OK, I’ll keep that in mind (laughs).