Ben Affleck is just like every other dad.
While attending the Los Angeles Got Sole 2025 sneaker convention on March 1 with his son Samuel, the 13-year-old quickly found his eyes on a pair of Dior Air Force 1's, prompting Ben to quip in the Got Sole brand's TikTok of the moment, "That’s a lot of lawns you gotta’ mow there!”
Ben—who in addition to Samuel shares Violet, 18, and Seraphina, 15, with ex-wife Jennifer Garner—went on to say, “You like those ‘cause they’re expensive.” And that's before they were even told the hefty price tag of $6,000—which Ben and Sam both agreed was too much.
While the actor—who recently finalized his divorce from Jennifer Lopez—may not have opted to splurge on the kicks, he has previously shared insight into why making these kinds of memories is his biggest priority.
“I’m aware of the importance of a father being there,” he told WSJ Magazine in December 2021. “As I was moving into adulthood as an adolescent, I remember casting around for an example, and the helplessness and the fear that come with not having something to hold on to, by way of example. So you trial-and-error your way towards manhood.”
The Oscar winner added, “It’s important to have two parents for the rearing and upbringing of a child. The most important thing to me is to be a good father. Boys need to be taught. How to behave, how to conduct yourself. What your values should be. The ways my father did that for me are really meaningful—as are the ways in which he was absent.”
Emphasizing his point, he shared, “You need a father for positive reinforcement.”
The Justice League actor also knows the importance of amicably co-parenting.
“When you have children with somebody, you’re connected to them forever,” Ben said of his ex to People in 2020. “And I’m very lucky she is the mother of my children.”
He also shared that he believes his kids understand when their parents are doing their best—even when they're not perfect.
“Kids are resilient,” he explained. “They appreciate the truth. Kids, if you’re honest and open with them, can forgive failings and setbacks, and they want to love you and respect you. That’s my approach to fatherhood.”
For more of Ben through the years, read on.