The Untold Truth Of Ben Affleck
Ben Affleck is more than just a critically acclaimed actor. He is also a philanthropist, a dedicated father, and a newlywed to Jennifer Lopez. The Bostonian celebrity has been acting since childhood, taking on roles in commercials and a PBS show called "The Voyage of the Mimi" that he doesn't look back on with much fondness. "It was cheesy, and I was embarrassed about it," he admitted in a SiriusXM interview on "The Jess Cagle Podcast." "It wasn't like I was coming back home and being like, 'You guys gotta see this! I'm so cool!'"
He may not have felt hip during his childhood acting days, but he absolutely adored the process of filming something on set. "I loved acting ... I liked the responsibility," he revealed. "I liked feeling like I was one of the grown-ups, kind of. You know, being on time, and knowing my lines, and doing a good job ... And it was exciting ... to be someone else."
The actor would go on to act in several iconic movie roles, such as Richard Linklater's "Dazed and Confused," as well as several of Kevin Smith's comedies like "Mallrats" and "Chasing Amy." But his big break came in 1997 when he and Matt Damon decided to write and star in their own film, "Good Will Hunting." Following the movie's release, Affleck went from a hunky indie actor to a full-blown star. This is his untold truth.
He got his start in a Burger King commercial
Before becoming an A-lister in Hollywood, Ben Affleck was making moves in the entertainment industry by acting in fast food commercials. During his teenage years, he was able to snag a role here and there due to his family having connections in show business. "My mother's best friend was a local casting director here, and she and her partner actually cast me in a couple of little things when I was young," the actor told CBS Sunday Morning back in 2010. One of those roles was a 1989 Burger King commercial, in which he's mistaken for a delivery driver before eagerly dropping off a burger meal to a babe.
But despite his dreams of making it big in Hollywood, the "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" star isn't proud of his work in the fast food ad. He told CBS, "Oh [my acting was] horrible — it was humiliating" (he's exaggerating — it's not that bad!). But despite feeling embarrassed by the commercial it ended up putting his foot in the door for other roles.
Not only that, but it also inspired his childhood friend, Matt Damon, to get his start in the entertainment industry. Down the line, Affleck and Damon would join forces to write one of the most critically acclaimed films of all time. But crafting the screenplay was no easy feat. In fact, there were several moments when both stars were prepared to scrap the project altogether.
What inspired him to write Good Will Hunting?
Back in the '90s, Ben Affleck was taking on movie roles that he wasn't entirely satisfied with — that included his minuscule role in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," for which his one line of dialogue was dubbed over. Understandably, he also yearned to portray characters that were more complex and nuanced — and where his lines were left intact. So what did he decide to do? Instead of sitting around and moping about how challenging the entertainment industry can be, he and his roommate, Matt Damon, decided to write their own script.
As the best friends revealed on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon," the writing process wasn't exactly a walk in the park. "I mean, I think 'Good Will Hunting' took us so long," Damon explained on the show. "We were, like, unemployed, broke guys. It took us forever to write that screenplay ... I think we wrote thousands and thousands of pages."
In an oral history of the film for Boston magazine, the "Dogma" star elaborated that he'd completed a first draft of what he considered the first act of the movie while he was a student at Harvard. When he moved to Los Angeles, he and Affleck dedicated themselves to refining and reworking it. "It was the first thing we woke up thinking about and the last thing we thought about before going to bed," Damon noted.
He became the youngest ever screenwriting Oscar winner
Clearly, the grueling writing process paid off, because Ben Affleck and Matt Damon both ended up winning an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay with "Good Will Hunting." In fact, per HuffPost, the "Daredevil" actor was the youngest person to ever win an Oscar for the "Best Original Screenplay" category when he was just 25 years old.
But "Good Will Hunting" wasn't the last script Affleck and Damon would write together. Almost 25 years after the release of "Good Will Hunting," the Hollywood besties went on to craft a script again for the 2021 film, "The Last Duel." That gap between projects may seem like an incredibly long time for the duo to partner up again. However, the "Gone Girl" actor has insisted that, in reality, it doesn't feel like it has been that long. "I know that from the outside it may look like, 'Oh, they did this together then, and now this is so much later," he said while sitting down with Good Morning America. "But staying friends, it feels like we've worked together a bunch, just because we consult one another and rely on one another and talk about stuff..."
He enjoyed making Matt Damon jealous
According to Ben Affleck, he was considered a bit of a weirdo during his school days for pursuing a career in acting. His peers were left scratching their heads as to why he would want to do such a thing. Yet there was one person who looked up to Affleck for pursuing his own path. That person, of course, was Matt Damon. "Before Matt, I was by myself," he told Parade. "Acting was a solo activity where I'd just go off and do something ... and no one understood it. None of the other kids knew what it was I did, how it worked, or anything. All of a sudden, I had this friend, Matt, and he gets it and wants to do it and thinks it's interesting and wants to talk about it. Soon both of us are doing it."
Before Damon mustered up the courage to start his career in acting, he looked at his buddy with a mixture of admiration and envy. As Affleck cheerfully noted to "The Jess Cagle Podcast," his young success in the entertainment industry made his pal sick with envy. Luckily, it worked out for the "Thor: Love and Thunder" star who carved his own path into Hollywood. "It drove [Damon] into a career in cinema," Affleck stated. "So I really take credit for that."
Playing Gone Girl's Nick Dunne liberated him
Ben Affleck plays quite the nuanced character in David Fincher's 2013 movie, "Gone Girl." As seemingly shady husband Nick Dunne, the actor stepped beyond his usual type to instead take on a rather unlikable role. Getting the opportunity to play a character that is morally gray rather than simply black or white meant a lot to the "Chasing Amy" star.
"Usually when you play a protagonist and you're a lead in the movie there are sort of some unspoken rules. You know, you have to be a good person, you have to be a leader, you have to be smarter than everyone in the room," Affleck told NPR. "....And in this case, we weren't encumbered by that at all. The whole idea of likability was sort of thrown out of the window. And I thought that was really exciting and liberating as an actor because you didn't know where this guy was gonna go."
Still, there were some unexpected hurdles during the filming process. According to the actor, Fincher had asked Affleck, a renowned Boston Red Sox fan, to wear a New York Yankees cap in one of the film's scenes. He refused. "I said, 'David, I love you, I would do anything for you. But I will not wear a Yankees hat," he confessed to The New York Times. Still, though the actor confirmed that the fight was legit, he added that he and the director regardless became friends during filming.
The one movie Ben Affleck regrets making
While some celebs are universally known not to be huge fans of their roles (cough cough Robert Pattinson and "Twilight") they usually don't outright say that they regret starring in the films. In Ben Affleck's case, he's been extremely upfront about his remorse over one particular movie — the 2003 flop, "Daredevil." As he told Playboy (via Business Insider), as of 2013, it remained the only cinematic regret of his career. "It just kills me," he said. "I love that story, that character, and the fact that it got f***ed up the way it did stays with me."
The movie was released during a notable low point in Affleck's career. Despite the endless acclaim he received for "Good Will Hunting" in 1997, by the early '00s, the actor went from being one of the most acclaimed celebs in Hollywood to a bit of a laughing stock in the entertainment business. "It was like hell," he revealed on "The Howard Stern Show" in 2021. "I'd have given it all back at that point to work at 7-11."
The star added that he felt like he had to make it in Hollywood on two separate occasions. First, as a struggling actor, and later, as a big star who'd gained tabloid notoriety, but lost industry kudos. "[It was] like, 'Yeah, we know who you are. We just don't like you,'" he shared. "... That [was] probably the hardest thing I've done professionally."
His children laugh at his acting career
While most children could only dream of having a "Justice League" superhero for a parent, Ben Affleck's kids aren't like most children. According to the "Batman v Superman" actor, his kids are far from impressed with the on-screen work he has done. In fact, they even go so far as to make fun of their father for his acting career and the various roles he's taken on.
In a 2021 interview on "The Howard Stern Show," Affleck hilariously revealed that his daughter had even said to him, "You know, dad, I don't consider film a legitimate art form." Sadly for him, he even took on the role of Batman to make his kids proud — a move that backfired. Instead of cheering on their dad, Affleck claims that his kids just felt embarrassed about it. "They love making fun of me," he told Stern.
In a separate interview with Extra, the actor claimed that his kids are generally mortified by him. However, he argued that it's probably for the best, as they keep him humble. "I don't think I'm that cool anyway, but whoever you are, if you're somebody's parent, you're not cool to somebody in the world," he said. "... That's part of life. You realize there's something kind of healthy about embarrassing your kids."
Ben Affleck isn't too comfortable with being rich
Ben Affleck has accumulated a wonderful career for himself as a director, writer, and actor. The Bostonian-bred celeb has worked his butt off over the past few decades, and whether his movies come out as a hit or a bust, he still knows just how to keep his name in the spotlight. The "Armageddon" star grew up in a modest, working-class home, yet he always dreamed of making it big in Hollywood — and he did. As of 2022, the star was estimated to be worth $150 million dollars according to Celebrity Net Worth
Affleck isn't one to hoard all that money for himself, though. As he told Vanity Fair in 1999, those high paychecks might make for a sweet living but they weigh heavy on his soul. "It's a tricky moral issue for me," he said. "[Sometimes] I feel that maybe I should just keep $50,000 and give everything [else] away."
Unsurprisingly, the actor is a big believer in giving back to those in need and has donated to several charities and causes throughout his years in the spotlight. According to Looktothestars.com, the actor has donated to a whopping 28 charities and 29 causes. Some of these charities and causes include (but are not limited to) ALS Association, Ante Up for Africa, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Feeding America, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
He still has his Batman suit
From an outside perspective, Ben Affleck may seem like your typical Hollywood heartthrob. But the truth is, the actor is secretly a lovable dork. This is especially so when it comes to his deep love of comic books that involve a wide range of superheroes. Yet, there's one he's maintained the strongest affinity for — Batman. During a 2013 episode of the "Hollywood Babble-On" podcast (via comicbook), "Clerks" director Kevin Smith, revealed just how deep Affleck's love of the character runs. Having bought his friend and frequent collaborator's house in 2001, the filmmaker recalled how the "Dogma" star giddily unveiled his very own Bat Cave entrance, which discreetly concealed a panic room.
As it turns out, after Affleck reprised the role of the Caped Crusader in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," he was also able to keep his own identical replica of the suit he wore in the film. And while it has been established that his children are unimpressed with his acting career, his son couldn't fake his excitement when his actor father showed up to his birthday party fully decked out in Batman's business attire. "I wore the suit to my son's birthday party, which was worth every moment of suffering on 'Justice League,'" he confessed on the "Awards Chatter" podcast. It doesn't get much sweeter (or dorkier) than that, folks.
Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck starred in a flop
In July 2022, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez eloped in Las Vegas. And although it goes without saying that they are an absolutely adorable couple, the way they met was somewhat unfortunate. Back in 2003, the couple became acquainted while on the set of their movie "Gigli." As Variety reports, they quickly transitioned from co-stars to lovers, with the name "Bennifer" spreading like wildfire throughout every tabloid ever. And while millions of fans across the globe were rooting for the couple, the majority of the general public found it incredibly challenging to root for their movie together.
According to The Numbers, "Gigli" made a measly $6,087,542 in the domestic box office on a budget of $54,000,000. Meanwhile, as of 2022, the film holds a sad 6% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score, which is usually more forgiving, is just as unfortunate at 13%. Still, despite the movie being a total flop, it at least is responsible for igniting one of the most adored on-and-off-again couples in Hollywood. That's gotta count for something, right?
Did Ben Affleck's daughter miss his wedding?
Per Us Weekly, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner were married for 10 years before they ultimately decided to call it quits. During their marriage, they brought three children into the world: Daughters Violet and Seraphina, and a son by the name of Samuel. According to Page Six, at least one of their kids was said to have skipped their dad's wedding to Jennifer Lopez. A source told the outlet, "Ben did tell Jen about the wedding ... [but] it was very, very minimally planned in advance and was largely spur-of-the-moment. Violet stayed home because she's extremely loyal to her mom." Whether she missed the wedding or not, she was seen enjoying Paris with her dad and his new bride during the couple's honeymoon afterward.
Before Affleck and Lopez got married, the "Argo" actor made a shocking revelation about his divorce from Garner. In a very personal interview with The New York Times, the actor confessed his remorse for the breakdown of his first marriage. "The biggest regret of my life is this divorce," he said. "Shame is really toxic. There is no positive byproduct of shame. It's just stewing in a toxic, hideous feeling of low self-worth and self-loathing."
Fortunately, the actor seems to have happily moved on with Lopez, and it looks as though he is thriving.