Ben Affleck has discussed the negative side of celebrity and the effect it can have on films.

Currently in Venice to promote his new film Hollywoodland, the actor has learnt first-hand of the downsides to fame after the tabloid frenzy surrounding his relationships with actresses such as Jennifer Lopez and wife Jennifer Garner.

He told Reuters: "Nowadays...people pay attention more and more to actors' private lives or personal lives or even the most mundane aspects of their every day lives in a kind of parallel track alongside their movies."

The star added: "Even the movies sometimes become incidental pit stops or commercial breaks in the soap opera of their life. I think that is bad for the actors, definitely, because it makes it difficult to suspend disbelief when you go and see their movie."