Ben Affleck says he was unhappy, 'felt trapped' in marriage to Jennifer Garner

Ben Affleck opened up about his failed marriage to Jennifer Garner and his rekindled romance with Jennifer Lopez in a candid interview with Howard Stern on Tuesday.

The "Argo" star confessed that he felt "trapped" and was no longer happy with the mother of his three children. He said they "probably would've ended up at each other's throats" had they decided to stay together and that he "probably still would've been drinking."

"Part of why I started drinking was because I was trapped. I was like, 'I can't leave because of my kids, but I'm not happy, what do I do?' And what I did was [I] drank a bottle of scotch and fell asleep on the couch, which turned out not to be the solution," Affleck told Stern in an interview on his Sirius XM "Howard 100" radio show.

The 49-year-old "Batman" star admitted that he and Garner tried to work on their marriage for the sake of their children: Violet, 16, Seraphina, 12, and Samuel, 9. But the more they tried the more they realised that it was just not working anymore because they have grown apart.

"Ultimately, we tried, we tried, we tried because we had kids, but both of us felt like we didn't want this to be the model that our kids see of marriage," he said and called the tabloid stories about their divorce "bull***t." The truth was they took their time and made their decision together.

"We had a marriage that didn't work. This happens. She's somebody I love and respect, but to whom I shouldn't be married any longer," Affleck continued and explained that his divorce with Garner ended amicably.

"We did our best. Did we have moments of tension? Did we have disagreements over custody? Was stuff difficult for us? Did we get angry? Yes, but fundamentally it was always underpinned with respect," he said, adding, "I knew she was a good mom. I always hoped she knew I was a good dad. I knew I was."

Affleck also talked about his rekindled romance with Lopez. He said his divorce from Garner gave him second thoughts about pursuing the singer. But they have since made their relationship public in April. The actor said though that his responsibility to his children will remain his priority and assured that he will not do anything "that's painful and destructive to them" amid his relationship with Lopez.