Make Page Six a Preferred Source Ben Affleck addressed the recent deaths of his parents, Timothy Affleck and Chris Anne Affleck, for the first time in a new interview with Kerry Washington.
“My parents just died, both of them. In April and June,” Ben, 54, told his “Animals” co-star on Wednesday’s episode of her “Street You Grew Up On” podcast.
“So I’ve been just like, you know, not just now or anything, but it’s just sort of a big thing.”
Chris Anne died on June 2 at age 83 after a six-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
Meanwhile, Timothy’s death at age 76 was confirmed by his other son, Casey, earlier this month during a press conference at the Venice International Film Festival.
Ben explained on the podcast that losing his parents “caused me to start thinking about my own childhood in ways that have been a little bit different.”
“I’ve certainly learned to sort of even more deeply appreciate my mom and really value and see what she did and what the sacrifice and commitment that she made and how complete it was,” the Oscar winner said of Chris Anne, who taught public school kids for 35 years before retiring in 2008.
Ben said that after his mom’s death, he read letters that she wrote to her parents when she was younger, which gave him more insight into her life.
“First off, it’s this young woman, full of life and ambition and dreams,” he shared, noting Chris Anne wrote about wanting to be a teacher and going to Mississippi for protests.
“It was really fascinating,” he continued. “But of course, the thing that struck me was this has nothing to do with me. This woman had her own whole life for 30 years that had zero to do with me.”
Ben said all he knew about Chris Anne was that she “made me and my brother the absolute most important center of her life” — until he read her letters.
“She was, I mean, gorgeous and smart and thoughtful and passionate. I just thought this woman’s amazing and she could do anything,” he said, adding, “She worked really hard, and she came home and did everything.”
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The “Gone Girl” actor also admitted that he realized he “had taken for granted” how much his mom did for him and his brother.
“Probably in a way that she wants, in a way I want my children to take for granted,” he said. “She did that so thoroughly and effectively over her whole life, that I didn’t even see her in a way as her own whole person apart from me. And it blew me away.”
Chris Anne and Timothy married in the early 1970s and divorced in 1984, when Ben and Casey were preteens.
The former couple raised their sons — who both went on to become actors — in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Ben is a dad to three children, Violet, 20, Seraphina, 17, and Sam, 14, from his marriage to his ex-wife, Jennifer Garner.
On the other hand, Casey, 51, has two adult children, Indiana, 22, and Atticus, 18, with his ex-wife, Summer Phoenix.
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