Ben Affleck Experienced A 'Breakdown' While Filming 'Painful' Scene About A Broken Marriage For His New Movie

Ben Affleck is showing his vulnerable side, and recalling a “painful” breakdown he experienced while filming his new flick The Way Back. Unsurprisingly, this moment which left him feeling “embarrassed” had to do with his divorce from his ex-wife Jennifer Garner.

Speaking with The Associated Press in a new interview, the 47-year-old revealed:

“Sometimes just feeling those feelings again purges them a little bit and frees you a little bit. This movie was hard to make. Sometimes it was painful. And sometimes I was embarrassed. And sometimes I couldn’t believe my life had any similarity to this.”

Originally, Affleck was asked to direct the film but introduced it to previous collaborator Gavin O’Connor instead. Though they had worked together in the past, O’Connor wasn’t aware of the full scope of Ben’s issues. He shared with AP:

“It was probably the second take, Ben just had a breakdown. I’m getting chills thinking about it. It was like the dam broke and everything came out. I just remember the crew, everyone was frozen, watching him bear his soul. It was obviously real. A lot of things that he probably had to say in his own life, or maybe he had said, I don’t know.”

Damn.

After filming the scene, in which Affleck’s character tries to make amends with his wife, it was ultimately decided it would have been “too hard for an audience to watch, too personal.” The moment remains in the film, which comes out on March 6, but has been edited down.

The 55-year-old explained more of what it was like working with the “raw and vulnerable” star:

“Once we started to prep the movie, he went into rehab. He sort of fell off the wagon. So now we were prepping the movie while he was in rehab and we thought it was going to fall apart. But he still wanted to do it. When he got out, he was incredibly raw and vulnerable and I think a little lost just in regard to having to confront the demons.”

Luckily, Ben says his relationship is actually better today with his ex-wife and three children, Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel, than it was a few years ago. He explained to the outlet:

“I have a better relationship with my kids today than I did three years ago. I have a better relationship with my ex-wife, I think, than I did three years ago. I think I’m a more interesting person because most of the growth that I’ve had has come from pain.”

Affleck has been extremely candid during promotions for the flick, speaking openly on multiple outlets about his relationship with the 13 Going On 30 star. While it’s unclear how she feels about their laundry being aired, her BF John Miller reportedly hasn’t been too thrilled.

Let’s just hope everything remains copacetic between them for the sake of their kids!

[Image via FayesVision/WENN.]