Oscar-winner Ben Affleck, whose romance with singer-actress Jennifer Lopez sent paparazzi into overdrive from 2002-2004, says their years together likely took a toll on his career, informs AFP.

"It was probably bad for my career," the actor, 35, who won a best screenplay Academy Award with Matt Damon in 1998 for "Good Will Hunting," told Details magazine.

"What happens is this sort of bleed-over from the tabloids across your movie work," he said.

"You go to a movie, you only go once. But the tabloids and Internet are everywhere. You can really subsume the public image of somebody. I ended up in an unfortunate crosshair position where I was in a relationship and (the media) mostly lied and inflated a bunch of salacious stuff for the sake of selling magazines. And I paid a certain price for that. Then, in concert with some movies that didn't work...," he added.

The couple, dubbed "Bennifer" by the tabloid press, planned to wed in 2004 but called it off at the last minute.

Lopez later wed singer Marc Anthony, and Affleck married actress Jennifer Garner.

Affleck is set to release his first film as a director in October, "Gone Baby Gone," the tale of a girl's kidnapping in Boston.

"I feel like this film is a linchpin for my life," he said. "My career. I have a lot riding on it. I want (the film) to work. Badly."

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