As Ben Affleck promotes The Way Back, the story of a high school basketball coach whose struggle with alcoholism took a terrible toll on his career and marriage, he hasn’t shied away from the obvious parallels between the movie and his own life. Quite the opposite. In soul-baring interview with The New York Times, Affleck was candid about how his drinking led to his high-profile divorce from Jennifer Garner and played a major role in his decision to walk away from The Batman.
That openness continued during a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! when Affleck described scrambling to make it to his son’s birthday in Los Angeles while in the middle of filming The Last Duel in Paris. Following his divorce from Garner, he splits custody of his son, so it was important that he not only be there for the party, but also arrive with gifts. While the actor miraculously pulled off the first part and arrived on time, he was greeted by some bad news by his assistant. The gifts never made it.
As the crestfallen Affleck grappled with the thought of not having a present for his son’s birthday, his assistant let him know that the actor did receive a package from his Last Duel co-star Adam Driver. Before leaving Paris, Affleck had let Driver know that his son loves Kylo Ren, and Driver was more than happy to record a birthday video for him. Unbeknownst to Affleck, the Star Wars actor secretly went the extra mile and had a bunch of signed Kylo Ren merch shipped to Affleck to give to his son.
As the former Batman recounted how Driver literally saved his son’s birthday (what’s more awesome than showing up with Kylo Ren gifts from the actual Kylo Ren?), Affleck got teary-eyed while wrapping up his tale for Kimmel. “Adam made me a hero to my kid, and I will never, ever, ever forget it.”
Watch the clip below for Affleck’s heartfelt thanks to Driver at the 7:35 mark:
(Via AV Club)
