LICENCE TO THRILL
How troubled Ben Affleck was saved by Bond beauty Ana de Armas after years of battling alcoholism and painful divorce
GRUELLING rehab stints battling alcohol addiction and a shock split from Jennifer Garner after sensational claims he cheated with their nanny - it's fair to say Ben Affleck has had a rocky few years.
But the actor, 47, has put his turbulent past firmly behind him recently as he moves on with James Bond beauty Ana de Armas, 31 - with the pair seemingly holed up together in isolation during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Recent photos of the actor smiling and laughing with his rumoured new love in Los Angeles are a far cry from his sombre and often dishevelled appearances over the last few years.
Having met Armas while filming their upcoming thriller Deep Water last year in New Orleans, the pair have since reportedly enjoyed a vacation together in Costa Rica and Ana’s hometown of Havana, Cuba, where she played the perfect tour guide and showed him around.
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So, could his newfound crush signal a new start for the troubled star?
Three stints in rehab for alcoholism
Struggling to maintain his hard-earned sobriety has taken a brutal toll on Affleck's love life.
He found happiness when he married Jennifer Garner in 2005, with the pair welcoming three children together, Violet, Seraphina and Samuel - but ten years later, their sudden separation and divorce in 2018 rocked the showbiz world.
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As the son of an alcoholic who saw his own father drunk every day, the Good Will Hunting star has battled constantly to remain sober, enduring three stints in rehab for alcoholism – the first two in 2001 and 2017 and the last one in 2018, with his then ex Garner even driving him to the facility in Malibu.
However, he has always been very open about his alcohol demons.
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In March 2017, Affleck wrote a Facebook post discussing his determination to overcome his issues, saying: "I have completed treatment for alcohol addiction; something I've dealt with in the past and will continue to confront, I want to live life to the fullest and be the best father I can be.
"I want my kids to know there is no shame in getting help when you need it, and to be a source of strength for anyone out there who needs help but is afraid to take the first step.
"I'm lucky to have the love of my family and friends, including my co-parent, Jen, who has supported me and cared for our kids as I've done the work I set out to do. This was the first of many steps being taken towards a positive recovery."
'Affair' with the nanny
His stint in rehab wasn't his only problem at the time however, as rumours were also rife his split from Garner came about following an alleged affair with the nanny.
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It was claimed that Affleck left a vacation with his then-wife in June 2015 and took the family’s 28 year-old nanny Christine Ouzounian to a charity poker tournament in Las Vegas.
A magazine reported that the pair were dating, which Affleck vehemently denied, but just a few days later Garner and Affleck announced they were divorcing.
In a subsequent interview with Vanity Fair in 2016, about the split and her relationship with Ben, explaining: “It was a real marriage. It wasn’t for the cameras. And it was a huge priority for me to stay in it. And that did not work.”
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She also touched on Ben’s alleged infidelity with the couple’s nanny, stating: “We had been separated for months before I ever heard about the nanny.
"She had nothing to do with our decision to divorce. She was not a part of the equation.”
Divorce guilt & 'groping' scandal
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Affleck said he still felt guilt about the divorce but had moved past shame. “The biggest regret of my life is this divorce,” he continued.
“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.”
And it wasn't the only time Affleck had to make a public apology.
Aside from breaking Garner’s heart, there was also the time he was accused of groping a talk show host in 2003.
“I acted inappropriately,” he said of that incident in 2017, as the #MeToo era dawned, “and I sincerely apologise.”
So drunk he could barely stand
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However, his journey to sobriety means Affleck continues to make mistakes.
After his 2018 visit to rehab, he got himself a sober coach and seemed to be doing well, attending wellness classes at an LA wellness centre that specialises in "Buddhist ethics".
But then he turned up drunk to a Halloween Party in October 2019 and got so smashed he could barely stand.
There was no escaping the incident, as the video on gossip site TMZ capturing the whole incident quickly went viral.
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He regretted falling off the wagon, calling the incident a “slip”, and said he was doubling down in his resolve to regain his sobriety.
“I really don't want my children to pay for my sins,” Affleck said later in an emotional interview with Diane Sawyer on Good Morning America.
“Or to be afraid for me, which is one of the hard parts of being the child of an alcoholic.
"You think, ‘What if my dad gets drunk? What if he does something stupid? What if he ends up on TMZ', you know? ‘And on my newsfeed, and other kids see it?’”
Bounced back through A-List pals
He has since been trying to get his act together, working hard, making movies and being a very active co-parent.
“I hope I'm a pretty good dad," he told the Today show’s Hoda Kotb recently.
"I certainly try very hard. I'm lucky they've got a great mom, and she helps out a great deal with making sure that we co-parent in as good a way as possible...
"That's really the central preoccupation in my life, you know, the focus of my life is what I love doing. It's what makes me happy and the rest of the stuff kind of follows.”
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Speaking more about Garner, he said: "Of course, she's wonderful. Somebody's the mother of your kids, they're going to be the most important, central person in your life, and that's good.”
Affleck has also cited the sober A-listers Bradley Cooper and Robert Downey Jr. as “guys who have been very supportive and to whom I feel a great sense of gratitude".
Close new bond
And Ana certainly appears to be having a positive effect on the actor.
The pair are thought to have met while they were filming upcoming psychological thriller Deep Water together, in which they play husband and wife.
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Rumours of their relationship then started when they were spotted “making out” at Havana Airport during their vacation in Cuba. A source also : “They are definitely dating.”
Cuban-Spanish actress Armas first shot to prominence playing a holographic AI projection in 2017 movie Blade Runner 2049, while she also played an immigrant nurse in the 2019 murder mystery film Knives Out, for which she was nominated for a Golden Globe for best actress.
She is now set to star in the upcoming Bond film No Time To Die as recent CIA recruit Paloma.
Meanwhile, in his new movie, The Way Back, Affleck plays an alcoholic high school basketball coach who ruined his marriage getting a second chance at redemption – a movie which clearly resonates with parts of his own life.
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“I have certainly made mistakes,” he told the New York Times. “I have certainly done things that I regret. But you’ve got to pick yourself up, learn from it, learn some more, try to move forward.”
Indeed, Affleck spoke optimistically about his future to Sawyer last month - revealing what he hopes people will say about him in five years.
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"Five years from now, Ben Affleck is sober and happy, and sees his kids three and a half days a week, and has made three or four movies that are interesting to him," he said.
"[And] directed two [movies] that he's hopefully proud of and is in a healthy, stable, loving, committed relationship."
Here's hoping his apparent new relationship with Ana can make that dream a reality.
Ben Affleck stumbles drunk into a car after relapsing at a Halloween party a day after celebrating a year of sobriety
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