- 'Get exclusive reporting and celebrity photos and more every Tuesday morning in our new Spotlight US newsletter HERE
Ben Affleck has broken his silence on the deaths of his parents.
asserted
Affleck → get → parents
The 54-year-old filmmaker lost his dad Timothy Affleck in April, followed by the loss of his mom Chris Affleck in June.
asserted
filmmaker → lose → June
Appearing on Animal co-star Kerry Washington's Streets We Grow Up On podcast this week, he reflected on how the back-to-back losses have made him reevaluate his childhood.
asserted
him → appear → childhood
'It's sort of a big thing, and it's caused me to start thinking about my own childhood in ways that [have] been a little bit different
asserted
that → cause → ways
,' the Oscar-winning screenwriter told Washington.
asserted
screenwriter → win → Washington
'I've certainly learned to even more deeply appreciate my mom and really value and see what she did and what the sacrifice and commitment that she made and how complete it was.'
asserted
it → learn → that
It was revealed in July that Chris died on June 2 following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
asserted
Chris → reveal → cancer
Then, Ben's brother Casey Affleck, 51, revealed in early September that their father had died earlier this year.
asserted
father → reveal → September
Ben Affleck has broken his silence on the deaths of his parents
It was revealed in July that his mother Chris Anne Affleck died on June 2, following a battle with pancreatic cancer.
asserted
mother → break → cancer
While promoting his movie Company at the Venice Film Festival, Casey said: 'It's dedicated to my parents because I lost both my mom and my dad this year, and they were very important to me.'
asserted
they → promote → me
Casey, who co-wrote, directed and stars in the film, continued: 'I really wanted to show this movie to them, and I didn't get to.
asserted
I → co → them
I think they would have liked it.'
asserted
they → think → it
While chatting with Washington in Tuesday's podcast episode, Ben said that after his mom died he discovered letters she had written before he was born.
asserted
he → chat → letters
'It was so interesting to me because all I knew was a person who just made me and my brother the absolute most important center of her life,' he reflected.
The grieving son explained that he was 'struck' by his mom's ability to balance working and being a wholly present parent.
asserted
he → know → working
The actor added that his mom similarly fostered a close relationship with her brood of grandkids.
asserted
mom → add → grandkids
In addition to their movie star sons, Timothy and ex-wife Chris are survived by five grandchildren: Indiana, 22, Violet, 20, Atticus, 18, Fin, 17 and Sam, 14.
asserted
Timothy → survive → grandchildren
Ben seen with his father in Los Angeles in 2013
Affleck has one brother, 51-year-old Casey Affleck
While promoting his movie Company at the Venice Film Festival, Casey said: 'It's dedicated to my parents because I lost both my mom and my dad this year, and they were very important to me'
asserted
they → see → me
Chris's grandkids were described as 'the animating force of her last two decades' in her Legacy obituary.
asserted
grandkids → describe → obituary
According to the publication, she was told by doctors that she had six months to live last December, and her final wish was to see her grandson's high school graduation.
uncertain
wish → accord → graduation
She attended the ceremony this past May, and died in her sleep days later.
uncertain
She → attend → sleep
Timothy mostly stayed out of the limelight, but made an appearance in Casey's 2010 I'm Still Here mockumentary starring Joaquin Phoenix.
asserted
I → stay → Phoenix
Chris graduated from Harvard University and was a public school teacher for 35 years until her retirement in 2008.
asserted
Chris → graduate → 2008
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter about his mom in 2012, Ben said: 'My mother taught public school, went to Harvard and then got her master's there and taught fifth and sixth grade in a public school.
asserted
mother → speak → school
Chris became socially conscious early in life, and 'made the most of an elite education while remaining skeptical of the tightly cloistered world it represented,' according to her obituary.
uncertain
it → become → obituary