Ben Affleck Breaks Silence on Jennifer Lopez Divorce, Clears Up Speculation About 'Root Causes' and 'Issues'

Ben Affleck has broken his silence on his divorce from Jennifer Lopez.

In a wide-ranging cover interview for the April issue of GQ, the Accountant 2 star opens up about his relationship with the actress-singer and the reality of their breakup versus what gossip might have some people believe — including why he chose to be involved in the 2024 documentary about their marriage, The Greatest Love Story Never Told.

"Part of it was, 'Okay, if I’m going to participate in this, I want to try to do it in an honest way and in a way that’s interesting.' Because I thought it was an interesting examination," said Affleck, 52.

He also praised Lopez, 55, as someone who has "handled celebrity more adeptly and more adroitly than I have," explaining, "My temperament is to be a little bit more reserved and private than hers."

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories.

"As happens in relationships, you don’t always have the same attitude towards these things," the two-time Academy Award winner continued. "And so I thought, Oh, this is interesting because how do you reconcile that? Because ... I love and support this person. I believe in them. They’re great. I want people to see that."

In the context of the documentary, Affleck recalled how he said something along the lines of, " 'You don’t marry a ship captain and then say, "Well, I don’t like going out in the water." ' You’ve got to own what you knew going into any relationship.' "

"And I think it’s important to say that wasn’t the cause of some major fracture. It’s not like you can watch that documentary and go, 'Oh, now I understand the issues that these two had,' " he added.

Elsewhere in the conversation, Affleck said he "[doesn't mind]" talking about his "personal life a little ... as long as my actual feelings and intentions and beliefs are communicated, which I hope I was clear that really [Lopez] is somebody I have a lot of respect for."

The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now!

And while he understands "wanting to divine or explore the kind of differences in perspective that we have in terms of how a person feels comfortable approaching the line between public and private life," the actor-director said he has "nothing but respect" for his ex.

"There’s a tendency to look at breakups and want to identify root causes or something. But honestly ... the truth is much more quotidian than probably people would believe or would be interesting," Affleck continued.

He went on to say of their breakup, "There’s no scandal, no soap opera, no intrigue. The truth is, when you talk to somebody, 'Hey, what happened?' Well, there is no, 'This is what happened.' "

"It’s just a story about people trying to figure out their lives and relationships in ways that we all sort of normally do," Affleck added.

Affleck and Lopez rekindled their romance in 2021 after previously getting engaged in 2002 and ending their relationship in 2003. They married in 2022 in two separate ceremonies — one in Las Vegas and one in Georgia. Lopez filed for divorce from Affleck in August 2024 and the divorce was finalized in January.

For Lopez's part, she seemingly opened up about the end of her romance in the October issue of Interview magazine.

“Not one second,” she said of whether she regrets her and Affleck's love story. “That doesn’t mean it didn’t almost take me out for good. It almost did. But now, on the other side of it, I think to myself, ‘F---, that is exactly what I needed.’”