The star of many Hollywood blockbuster movies has spoken openly on the various struggles he has faced in recent years.

Ben Affleck, 47, has broken his silence on his alcohol problem, on divorcing Jennifer Garner, and most importantly his role as Batman. All are questioned in an exclusive interview he recently underwent with The New York Times.

The 'Argo' actor and director spoke on how much he regrets his divorce with Gerner, whom he was married to for 10 years. He said: The biggest regret of my life is this divorce. Shame is really toxic. There is no positive byproduct of shame. It’s just stewing in a toxic, hideous feeling of low self-worth and self-loathing.

"It’s not particularly healthy for me to obsess over the failures — the relapses — and beat myself up. I have certainly made mistakes. I have certainly done things that I regret. But you’ve got to pick yourself up, learn from it, learn some more, try to move forward."

Affleck, who has been in rehab three times for his alcohol addiction, spoke bluntly on the subject. He said the problem stemmed from an alcoholic father while growing up: "My dad didn’t really get sober until I was 19. There’s a lot of alcoholism and mental illness in my family. The legacy of that is quite powerful and sometimes hard to shake."

On the subject of his groping charge made by a talk-show host in 2017, he admitted: "I acted inappropriately and I sincerely apologize."

And finally, on trying to forget both of his critically-panned Batman movies and "Sad Affleck" meme, he said of his middle-aged effort: "I showed somebody 'The Batman' script. They said, 'I think the script is good. I also think you’ll drink yourself to death if you go through what you just went through again'." He's since passed the mantle onto Robert Pattinson.

We're going to be seeing Affleck on our screens a lot over the coming months, as he has four releases to come throughout the year. First up is Netflix's 'The Last Thing He Wanted' which stars Anne Hathaway and Willem Defoe, and releases online this Friday.

Affleck will be touching down on our own Emerald Isle later this year too. Ridley Scott's new epic 'The Last Duel' will film in County Meath in March, and stars Adam Driver, Matt Damon and 'Killing Eve' star Jodie Comer.

You can read Ben Affleck's full interview with The New York Times here.