In his latest movie, Ben Affleck plays a man who can see into the future. But, as Steve Pratt discovers, when it comes to his own plans and his on-off marriage to Jennifer Lopez the actor doesn't see things quite so clearly.

Ben Affleck on the GMTV sofa. Ben Affleck on Richard and Judy. Ben Affleck in newspapers and magazines. Ben Affleck on posters. Ben Affleck, in fact, everywhere you look this week.

The American actor has not developed a craving for publicity, although he does have a new movie, Paycheck, to plug. Don't expect him to admit it, but his appearances are something of a damage limitation exercise.

He needs to repair the damage done to his credibility by the massive media interest surrounding his relationship and marriage - or rather, its sudden cancellation - to Jennifer Lopez.

The pair's will they, won't they? saga dragged on for months. They became so inextricably entwined that a new word, Bennifer, was coined to describe them.

Such togetherness may be good for the soul, but not for the career and image - especially after Gigli. This was the film they made together which was released last year, only to be damned by critics and ignored by cinemagoers. Jersey Girl, another film in which they were paired, was swiftly put on the shelf.

Affleck has said Gigli was "really damaging for my career", while admitting that reaction to the whole Ben and J-Lo thing took him by surprise.

Now, he needs to get out in front of the public to show that he's serious about his work. Paycheck, a futuristic thriller directed by John Woo, isn't the greatest movie in the world but will help restore his credibility, although being described by one critic as "possessing all the acting talent of a filing cabinet" won't help.

He and Lopez cancelled their wedding only days before in September, but are still together. They're more careful about appearing in public together now. At Paycheck's Los Angeles premiere, Affleck trod the red carpet and did the media interviews that entailed. Lopez arrived later, walking briskly past waiting photographers and reporters.

They don't want to end up a couple like Taylor and Burton, better known more for marital break-ups and make-ups than their acting. It's all too easy to become a joke, dismissed by the public as having too much money and not enough sense. You think Affleck might have learnt his lesson after experiencing a similar media reaction to an earlier relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow.

All this remains unspoken as Affleck does his duty on his promotional rounds. He talks about the movie. He doesn't mention Lopez by name, although her invisible presence hangs over every question and answer.

A journalist from Ireland suggests that his country is a very nice place for a wedding reception, should he need somewhere. "I'll get back to you on that one," replies the 31-year-old actor affably.

Affleck is a courteous and intelligent talker, as befits someone who works with words as an actor and writer. It's easy to forget that he and best friend and fellow actor Matt Damon won a best screenplay Oscar for Good Will Hunting.

Actions speak louder than words in Paycheck, with Affleck as a man who invents a machine that sees the future. So how would he have viewed his own future if he could time travel? "I would have been very pleased to see that I had the chance to work on this movie and with director John Woo," he says, neatly side-stepping any references to weddings.

"It's interesting, one of the things this movie talks about is this notion of whether it's a good thing to see the future, or to try and erase the past.

"Interestingly, as people, we're forever really anxious to see what's going to happen and don't want to think about what did happen. It's probably, as suggested in the movie, an unhealthy desire.

"It's a good thing that we don't see the future, otherwise we'd dwell too much on the negative things maybe. It's also important to remember the good and the bad in our lives. It builds character. If we don't remember the bad, we'd keep making the same mistakes over and over again.

"I'm a fatalist. I think you have a certain amount of control. You have control over the things you have control over, and that which you don't have control over, you can't really worry about."

When he and Damon accepted the Oscar five years ago, he probably didn't foresee checking into rehab with a drink problem or hearing stories about his gambling habits getting out of hand.

He isn't the first Hollywood star to suffer a fall after a rapid rise to fame.

"That accelerated pace of success I had is certainly something to adjust to, but it's probably a lot easier to adjust to than the accelerated pace of failure," he says.

'Given the choice I know what I would take. I have had the opportunity to work with great directors. It's a dream come true. It has its own attendant, unique issues that aren't usual. But it's important for somebody in my position to focus on the fact of how grateful I am - and I am very fortunate and really very blessed - rather than to dwell on what particular difficulties it has brought.

"I'm extremely pleased, very lucky and just happy to be given the opportunities that I have."

Dressed casually in jumper and jeans and with a goatee beard, Affleck looks very different to the smart, clean-shaven action hero he plays in Paycheck. The look of the movie was something he and Woo had talked about. A couple of Hitchcock films were in their minds, including North By Northwest. Movie buffs will spot homages to that thriller in Paycheck.

"I just wanted to please the director and help accomplish whatever vision he had," he says. "I was willing to do whatever John wanted. If he said I had to smear myself in mud, then I'd have done it."

Playing a paranoid character, forever looking over his shoulder for the bad guys, has some effect on Affleck during filming. "You can't help but absorb a little bit of what you're doing," he says.

"I found that during this movie I had these really weird dreams. I think it had to do with trying to ratchet myself up in a state of ignorance in terms of this character's life and frenzy. So I guess a little bit of that bled over."

Despite all the interest in his private life, Affleck retains a sense of humour. Few Hollywood actors would actually mention their bad reviews, let alone read them out on national TV. That's what he did on the David Letterman show after Gigli's release.

"I'd seen a collection of the various reviews on email, some that were particularly excoriating," he says. "My publicist put together a list of excerpts - spared me having to pore over them all - and just had some greatest hits lines from them.

"In general, I don't read my reviews. For one thing, I find that film critics these days are telling people whether to go and see a movie, and aren't approaching film criticism from the viewpoint of what would be helpful to you as an artist.

"Sometimes it's just about being clever, and that's okay, but not particularly helpful in the sense that it's not really about what you're doing.

"So in the same way that I avoid reading press clippings, I avoid reading reviews because it's distracting. You never want to be making a movie and, in the back of your head, anticipating what people would say about it."

l Paycheck (12A) is showing in cinemas now.