Ben Affleck once had a “dissociative panic attack” after smoking marijuana when he was 15.
Ben Affleck
The 48-year-old actor has admitted he wasn’t a fan of the drug when he began smoking it as a teenager, because one bad experience led him to suffer a severe panic attack.
Ben spoke as part of the recently released book ‘Alright, Alright, Alright: The Oral History of Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused’, where the actor - who had a small role in the 1993 movie - explained he rarely joined the other cast members in drinking and smoking because of his past experiences.
He said: “I had a bad experience with marijuana at 15. I had a dissociative panic attack. So I only smoked weed if everyone else was smoking and I had to sort of Bill Clinton it and fake it. I didn’t really like marijuana.”
Ben admitted he rarely drank alcohol with the cast because he wasn’t a “heavy drinker” at the time, and said his struggles with alcoholism came “much later” in his life.
He added: “I also wasn’t a very heavy drinker then. I became an alcoholic much much later and I’m in recovery now, so that was a whole different time. I was a little nervous, like should we be drinking before we’re working tomorrow? Some people were actually drinking and stoned at work.”
And the ‘Argo’ star - who was just 20 when he appeared in the movie - also recalled heading to shooting ranges with his co-stars on their days off, as he said he now views the hobby differently.
He said in the book: ”Texas had extremely lax gun laws and most of us came from states where it was next to impossible to buy guns and part of the newfound freedom being down there was a bunch of us bought guns and went shooting at ranges on weekends, which seemed fun and innocent at the time, but given the subsequent tragedies with young people and guns, it makes me uncomfortable to remember.”
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