Ben Affleck on career during Jennifer Lopez romance: ‘I was like the lowest rung of cool’

LOS ANGELES, June 24 (UPI) — Ben Affleck said he was considered uncool during his time dating Jennifer Lopez earlier in his career.

“If you went by what people said … I wasn’t cool and I wasn’t talented, and I was, like, the lowest rung of cool and talented that you could possibly be in the public consciousness at that time,” the Justice League star explained to host Bill Simmons on HBO’s Any Given Wednesday.

“I had broken up with Jennifer Lopez and I had, like, three or four movies in a row that had bombed,” he continued about how he became a Hollywood punching bag at the time.

Affleck and Lopez, known at the time collectively as “Bennifer,” famously called off their engagement in 2003 after dating for a year.

The actor has recovered nicely becoming a noted director on award-winning films such as Gone Baby Gone, The Town, and Argo which won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2012. The 43-year-old has also starred in a string of hit films including Gone Girl and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.

“My wife was really instrumental and helpful in me doing a lot of that work because I was just so focused [on it] and it was harder to balance family and all that,” Affleck said, giving credit to his estranged wife Jennifer Garner for helping him resurrect his career.

Affleck and Garner split in June of 2015 after 10 years of marriage. They continue to raise their children, Violet, 10; Seraphina, 7; and son Samuel, 4, together.

The 46-year-old also made headlines during his appearance on Any Given Wednesday for passionately defending NFL star Tom Brady and slamming the ongoing Deflategate saga.