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Ben Affleck says Matt Damon influenced his decision to quit as Batman after Justice League

Photo credit: Warner Bros.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Ben Affleck, who has quit playing the role of Batman after the release of Justice League in 2017, has said that fellow actor Matt Damon was a "principal influence" in his decision.

In an interview for Entertainment Weekly, he explained that Damon helped him figure out that he only wanted to play roles and do work that made him happy, and for various reasons, Justice League did not make him happy.

Affleck said: "I had a really nadir experience around Justice League for a lot of different reasons. Not blaming anybody, there's a lot of things that happened. But really what it was is that I wasn't happy. I didn't like being there."

Photo credit: Warner Bros.
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Related: Ben Affleck explains why Justice League was the "worst experience"

"I didn't think it was interesting. And then some really shitty things, awful things happened. But, that's when I was like, 'I'm not going to do that anymore.'"

He continued: "In fact, I talked to [Matt Damon] about it and [he] was a principal influence on that decision. I want to do the things that would bring me joy."

Affleck said that doing The Last Duel with Matt Damon was so much fun even though he wasn't the star of the movie, and it was a "wonderful experience".

Photo credit: 20th Century Studios
Photo credit: 20th Century Studios

Related: Ben Affleck reflects on reuniting with Matt Damon for new movie

He also said he now lives in fear with each new movie that he won't feel happy again because the feeling is "elusive" but for the moment, he is happy.

"One of the nice things about getting older, if you're lucky, is you stop bullshitting yourself and you start going, 'You know, I actually know where my feelings are.' And the more I figured it out, the more accessible that was,' Affleck added.

Justice League was the last time Affleck portrayed Batman, apart from this year's The Flash, and was a poor experience because of his own personal life, the effect of his divorce, being away from home and the tragic death of director Zack Snyder's daughter, meaning he had to leave the movie.

Affleck's reprisal of the role in The Flash will "put a really nice finish on my experience with that character," he previously said.

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