Ben Affleck and his brother Casey are moving through the motions of life after losing a parent. The award-winning brothers have been mourning their mom, Christopher Anne Boldt, for nearly two months. After keeping the news private, there have been headlines everywhere about her passing, and thankfully they have a great support system.
© MediaNews Group/Boston Herald viAccording to a source who talked to PEOPLE, Chris' death is hitting the brothers "really hard." “Losing your mom is an unimaginable loss at any age, and they’re grieving deeply,” the insider explained.
© CAMERA PRESS/Gary LewisBut they noted that they're "surrounded by an incredible support system," crediting their children for being a "real source of comfort and strength during this heartbreaking time." "The family is leaning on one another, and they’ll get through it together," they continued.
Chris Affleck spent her final days surrounded by family
Yesterday, new details about Chris' final days were reported after a months-long battle with pancreatic cancer. The matriarch died on June 2 at 83. Her death certificate, obtained by Us Weekly, lists cardiopulmonary arrest as her immediate cause of death, with pancreatic adenocarcinoma named as an underlying condition.
© GettyThe document states that Chris was “visiting son’s residence” when she died at 10:52 a.m., with the listed address connected to Ben. She had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in December 2025 and was initially given six months to live, according to her obituary in The Boston Globe.
In the final days of her life, Chris was also able to be there for an important family milestone. Her obituary said one of her greatest wishes after her diagnosis was to see her grandson graduate. On May 31, she was able to do just that. Chris died peacefully in her sleep two days later.
Her life as an activist
To the public, Chris was best known as the mother of Ben and Casey, but long before either became an Academy Award winner, she had built a life centered around education and activism.
Chris spent 35 years working as a public school teacher in the Boston area before retiring in 2008. Her activism stretched back to the 1960s, when she taught literacy classes in Mississippi during Freedom Summer and later protested the Vietnam War.
That involvement continued throughout her life. She volunteered during Barack Obama’s presidential campaign and, after traveling to Palestine in 2009, became involved in advocacy surrounding water access as an organizer with the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine
Following her passing, Pulitzer Prize winner Mosab Abu Toha shared a statement on social media explaining her activism for Palestine. "Many people know Chris as the mother of Ben and Casey Affleck. What many, perhaps most, do not know is that she was also one of the most steadfast advocates for Palestine," he wrote. "During the Covid pandemic, she stopped by to see us with a 'Free Gaza' poster displayed on her car."
"In May 2023, I gave Chris a necklace and a ring embroidered by my sister-in-law, who remains in Gaza today. Chris was overjoyed and immediately put them on," the author continued.
Closer to home, Chris helped establish the Sustainable Cape project in Truro, Massachusetts.
Ben credited his mom with helping launch his career
© Ron GalellaBen has also spoken about the role his mother played in the very beginning of his acting career, years before Good Will Hunting made him and Matt Damon household names.
“I got into acting as a young child on account of a sort of arbitrary thing. A friend of my mom’s was a casting director so, really as kind of a lark,” he told Parade in 2007. “I had a couple of acting jobs that had just enough exposure to give me the option to continue if I wanted to. I followed through with it.” Chris would later be beside him for one of the defining moments of his career.
When Ben and Damon won Best Original Screenplay for Good Will Hunting at the 1998 Academy Awards, they brought their mothers as their dates. Looking back on the night years later, Ben remembered immediately turning to Chris after their names were announced. “We were sitting next to our moms, and we won, and we kind of hugged our moms,” he told Vanity Fair.
Ben also remembered questioning at the time why bringing their mothers to Hollywood’s biggest night was considered unusual. “I remember thinking, being insecure, like, ‘Why? Why is it weird that we’re bringing our moms? Who else do you think we would bring?’”
Her grandchildren were at the heart of her later years
© WENN Rights LtdWhile Chris watched both of her sons build successful careers, her obituary made clear that her five grandchildren became a particularly important part of her life.
She was grandmother to Casey’s children, Indiana and Atticus, whom he shares with ex-wife Summer Phoenix, as well as Ben and Garner’s children, Violet, Fin and Samuel.
Her obituary described the five as “the animating force of her last two decades.” And while she was proud of their accomplishments, Chris apparently got a special kick out of seeing them push boundaries. According to the obituary, she was particularly "delighted when they questioned, defied, or cleverly engaged authority.”
© ShutterstockRest in power.
