Timothy Affleck, Ben Affleck’s father, has frequently come up in interviews throughout the years. In a December 2021 interview, Ben Affleck recounted a specific incident at the Academy Awards that transformed his perception of his father. It’s not because of Timothy’s words but because of Oscar winner Dustin Hoffman.
Ben Affleck grew up thinking his dad had a ‘horrible fantasy about having had movie star friends’
Timothy was not a consistent presence in Ben Affleck’s life as a child in Cambridge, Massachusetts. They did, however, have a romance. “I did have a father, and I had a relationship with him,” Affleck told The Wall Street Journal in December 2021 about his latest picture, The Tender Bar. “However, he was occasionally absent from my life. “He was present intermittently before he got sober,” he stated.
Affleck’s father told him about his renowned acquaintances, particularly Dustin Hoffman, during their time together. “When I was a boy, my father would tell me stories about being an assistant director at the Theatre Company of Boston and about him and ‘Dusty,'” Ben Affleck said.
Affleck continued, saying at the time he hadn’t believed a word his father said about his so-called celebrity friends. “I remember thinking, ‘This is tragic, he’s bull****ting. He’s building this horrible fantasy about having had movie star friends,’” he recalled. It got to the point where the Argo star “internalized a kind of shame that you carry when you feel ashamed of your dad.”
Dustin Hoffman confirmed he knew Timothy Affleck at the Academy Awards
It wasn’t until the 1998 Academy Awards that Ben Affleck discovered his father had been lying about knowing Hoffman. He and his best buddy, Matt Damon, were nominated for an Academy Award for their screenplay for Good Will Hunting. Finally, the 1997 Gus Van Sant picture in which they co-starred with Robin Williams won them an Oscar.
But it wasn’t the only memorable moment of the evening. Hoffman validated Affleck’s father’s claims, which The Way Back star related to The Wall Street Journal. “That night, Dustin Hoffman approached me and asked, ‘Is your father Tim?'” Ben Affleck remembered. “I replied, ‘Yes.'” He stated, ‘Your father and I lived together.'” Affleck “had this massive sense of embarrassment” when he said those remarks.
Ben Affleck’s father didn’t know about his rekindled romance with Jennifer Lopez
After parting in the early 2000s, Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have rekindled their romance. The high-profile romance has received a lot of attention, but Affleck’s father supposedly had no idea the two were dating until lately. “Of course, I’ve heard of her,” he said from his home in upstate New York, “but I’d had no idea about any of this.”
“I talk to my kids about their lives when I see them and they share with me what they want to share,” Affleck’s father added. He also noted that schedules and coronavirus (COVID-19) might’ve been a factor in him not knowing about the romance.
Meanwhile, Affleck has described his reconciliation with J. Lo as a “great love story” that he prefers to keep to himself.
