The Tender rod actor, who sparked fears that he would relapse as his marital problems with his estranged wife worsen Jennifer Lopez started, opened up to WSJ Magazine in December 2021 about the things that inspired him to get sober.
He said: “There is a lot I would like my younger self to understand. Some things are honestly too self-conscious or too shy to really be upfront about them with the whole world because they’re usually mistakes.
“Things I wish I would have done differently, and they are rooted in that instinct to look at my past and think, I wish I could have avoided this painful event.” I wish I couldn’t have hurt someone else. I wish I had better understood the nature of what was difficult for me in life.”
Affleck later noted that suffering was the only cure for alcoholism, and that it was something that helped him achieve sobriety.