Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His
accolades
The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) ( la, benedictio militis) was the central act in the rite of passage ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more generally to ...
include two
Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, three
Golden Globe Awards and a
Volpi Cup
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
.
Affleck began his career as a child when he starred in the
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
educational series ''
The Voyage of the Mimi'' (1984, 1988). He later appeared in the independent coming-of-age comedy ''
Dazed and Confused'' (1993) and various
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...
films. Affleck gained wider recognition when he and
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...
won the
Golden Globe and
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for writing ''
Good Will Hunting
''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 American psychological drama film directed by Gus Van Sant, and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It stars Robin Williams, Damon, Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård and Minnie Driver.
The film received positive r ...
'' (1997), which they also starred in. He then established himself as a leading man in studio films, including the disaster film ''
Armageddon
According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
'' (1998), the war drama ''
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
'' (2001), and the thrillers ''
The Sum of All Fears'' and ''
Changing Lanes
''Changing Lanes'' is a 2002 American drama thriller film directed by Roger Michell and starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. The film follows a successful, young Wall Street lawyer (Affleck) who accidentally crashes his car into a vehicle ...
'' (both 2002).
After a career downturn, Affleck made a comeback by portraying
George Reeves
George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series '' Adventures of Superman'' (1952–1958).
His death at age 45 from a g ...
in the biopic ''
Hollywoodland
''Hollywoodland'' is a 2006 American film directed by Allen Coulter and written by Paul Bernbaum. The story presents a fictionalized account of the circumstances surrounding the death of actor George Reeves (played by Ben Affleck), the star of ...
'' (2006), winning the
Volpi Cup for Best Actor
The Volpi Cup for Best Actor ( it, Coppa Volpi per la migliore interpretazione maschile) is the principal award given to actors at the Venice Film Festival and is named in honor of Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, the founder of the Venice Film ...
. His directorial debut, ''
Gone Baby Gone
''Gone Baby Gone'' is a 2007 American crime thriller film directed by Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a ...
'' (2007), which he also co-wrote, was well received. He then directed, co-wrote and starred in the crime drama ''
The Town'' (2010) and directed and starred in the political thriller ''
Argo'' (2012); both were critical and commercial successes. For the latter, Affleck won the
Golden Globe and
BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
for Best Director, and the
Golden Globe,
BAFTA, and
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...
.
Affleck then starred in the psychological thriller ''
Gone Girl'' (2014) and played the superhero
Batman in the
DC Extended Universe
The DC Extended Universe (DCEU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films and television series produced by DC Studios and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is based on characters that ...
, beginning with ''
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' (2016). After a starring role in the thriller ''
The Accountant'' (2016), Affleck played supporting roles in the family drama ''
The Tender Bar'' and the historical drama ''
The Last Duel'' (both 2021).
Affleck is the co-founder of the
Eastern Congo Initiative
The Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI) is an American nonprofit organization established by Ben Affleck and Whitney Williams in 2010 as "the first U.S.-based advocacy and grant-making initiative wholly focused on working with and for the people of eas ...
, a
grantmaking
A grant is a fund given by an end entity grant – often a public body, charitable foundation, or a specialised grant-making institution – to an individual or another entity (usually, a non-profit organisation, sometimes a business or a loca ...
and advocacy-based nonprofit organization. He is also a stalwart supporter of the
Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to:
*Democratic Party (United States)
Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to:
Active parties Africa
*Botswana Democratic Party
*Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea
*Gabonese Democratic Party
*Demo ...
. Affleck and Damon are co-owners of the production company Artists Equity and were also co-owners of
Pearl Street Films
Pearl Street Films was an American film and television production company based at Warner Bros. Studios.
History
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck established it, and Jennifer Todd
Jennifer Todd (born October 3, 1969) is an American film and tel ...
.
Early life
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt was born on August 15, 1972 in
Berkeley, California
Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...
.
His family moved to
when he was three,
living in
Falmouth, where his brother
Casey was born, before settling in
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
.
His mother, Christopher Anne "Chris" Boldt, was a
Harvard-educated elementary school teacher.
His father, Timothy Byers Affleck,
was an aspiring playwright
who was "mostly unemployed." He worked sporadically as a carpenter,
auto mechanic,
bookie,
electrician,
bartender,
and janitor at Harvard.
In the mid-1960s, he had been an actor and stage manager with the
Theater Company of Boston Theater Company of Boston (TCB) was co-founded by David Wheeler and Naomi Thornton in 1963. Wheeler served as its artistic director until its closure in 1975. Actors including Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Duvall, Jon Voight, St ...
.
During Affleck's childhood, his father had a self-described "severe, chronic problem with
alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
",
and Affleck has recalled him drinking "all day ... every day". His father was "very difficult" , and Affleck felt a sense of "relief" at the age of 11 when his parents divorced,
and his father exited the family home.
His father continued to drink heavily
and eventually became homeless, spending two years living on the streets of Cambridge.
When Affleck was 16, his father entered a rehabilitation facility in
Indio, California. He lived at the facility for twelve years to maintain his sobriety
[ and worked there as an addiction counselor.]
Affleck was raised in a politically active, liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
household. He and his brother, Casey, were surrounded by people who worked in the arts; the boys regularly attended theater performances with their mother and were encouraged to make their own home movies. David Wheeler, a family friend, later remembered Affleck as a "very bright and intensely curious" child. The brothers auditioned for roles in local commercials and film productions because of their mother's friendship with a Cambridge-area casting director, and Affleck first acted professionally at the age of seven. His mother saved his wages in a college trust fund and hoped her son would ultimately become a teacher, worrying that acting was an insecure and "frivolous" profession. When Affleck was 13, he filmed a children's television program in Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
. He learned to speak Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
during a year spent travelling around the country with his mother and brother.
As a Cambridge Rindge and Latin
The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, also known as CRLS or "Rindge," is a public high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. It is a part of the Cambridge Public School District. In 1977, two separate schools, the Rindge Technical S ...
high school student, Affleck acted in theater productions and was inspired by drama teacher Gerry Speca. He became close friends with fellow student Matt Damon
Matthew Paige Damon (; born October 8, 1970) is an American actor, film producer, and screenwriter. Ranked among ''Forbes'' most bankable stars, the films in which he has appeared have collectively earned over $3.88 billion at the North Ameri ...
, whom he had known since the age of eight. Although Damon was two years older, the pair had "identical interests" and both wanted to pursue acting careers. They traveled to New York together for acting auditions and saved money for train and airline tickets in a joint bank account. While Affleck had high SAT
The SAT ( ) is a standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. Since its debut in 1926, its name and scoring have changed several times; originally called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, it was later called the Schol ...
scores, he was largely an unfocused student with poor attendance. He spent a few months studying Spanish at the University of Vermont
The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...
, chosen because of its proximity to his then-girlfriend, but he left after fracturing his hip while playing basketball. At 18, Affleck moved to Los Angeles, studying Middle Eastern affairs at Occidental College for a year and a half.
Career
1981–1997: Child acting and ''Good Will Hunting''
Affleck acted professionally throughout his childhood but, in his own words, "not in the sense that I had a mom that wanted to take me to Hollywood or a family that wanted to make money from me ... I kind of chanced into something." He first appeared, at the age of seven, in an independent film, ''The Dark End of the Street'' (1981), directed by a family friend, Jan Egleson. His biggest success as a child actor was as the star of the PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
children's series '' The Voyage of the Mimi'' (1984) and ''The Second Voyage of the Mimi
''The Second Voyage of the Mimi'' is a twelve-episode American educational television program depicting a fictional crew of a sailboat named the ''Mimi'' exploring Mayan ruins in Southern Mexico. Along the way, they learn about ancient civilizati ...
'' (1988), produced for sixth-grade science classes. Affleck worked "sporadically" on ''Mimi'' from the age of eight to fifteen in both Massachusetts and Mexico. As a teenager, he appeared in the ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
after school special
The American Broadcasting Company coined the term Afterschool Special in 1972 with a series of television films, usually dealing with controversial or socially relevant issues, that were generally broadcast in the late afternoon and meant to be ...
''Wanted: A Perfect Man'' (1986), the television film ''Hands of a Stranger'' (1987), and a 1989 Burger King commercial.
After high school, Affleck moved briefly to New York in search of acting work. Later, while studying at Occidental College in Los Angeles, Affleck directed student films
A student is a person enrolled in a school or other educational institution.
In the United Kingdom and most commonwealth countries, a "student" attends a secondary school or higher (e.g., college or university); those in primary or elementar ...
. As an actor, he had a series of "knock-around parts, one to the next". He played Patrick Duffy
Patrick Duffy (born March 17, 1949) is an American actor and director widely known for his role on the CBS primetime soap opera ''Dallas'', where he played Bobby Ewing, the youngest son of Miss Ellie, and the nicest brother of J.R. Ewing (pla ...
's son in the television film ''Daddy
A father is the male parent of a child. Besides the paternal bonds of a father to his children, the father may have a parental, legal, and social relationship with the child that carries with it certain rights and obligations. An adoptive fathe ...
'' (1991), made an uncredited appearance as a basketball player in the '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' film (1992), and had a supporting role as a prep school student in ''School Ties
''School Ties'' is a 1992 American drama film directed by Robert Mandel and starring Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Chris O'Donnell, Randall Batinkoff, Andrew Lowery, Cole Hauser, Ben Affleck, and Anthony Rapp. Fraser plays the lead role as David ...
'' (1992). He played a high school quarterback in the NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
television series '' Against the Grain'' (1993), and a steroid-abusing high school football player in '' ''Body to Die For: The Aaron Henry Story'''' (1994). Affleck's most notable role during this period was as a high school bully in Richard Linklater's cult classic '' Dazed and Confused'' (1993). Linklater wanted a likeable actor for the villainous role, and, while Affleck was "big and imposing," he was "so smart and full of life ... I just liked him." Affleck later said Linklater was instrumental in demystifying the filmmaking process for him.
Affleck's first starring film role was as an aimless art student in the college drama '' Glory Daze'' (1995), with Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' remarking that his "affably mopey performance finds just the right balance between obnoxious and sad sack". He then played a bully in filmmaker Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith (born August 2, 1970) is an American filmmaker, actor, comedian, comic book writer, author, YouTuber, and podcaster. He came to prominence with the low-budget comedy buddy film '' Clerks'' (1994), which he wrote, directed, ...
's comedy ''Mallrats
''Mallrats'' is a 1995 American buddy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Jason Lee, Jeremy London, Shannen Doherty, Claire Forlani, Ben Affleck, Jason Mewes, Joey Lauren Adams, Michael Rooker, and Smith as Silent Bob. ...
'' (1995) and became friends with Smith during the filming. Affleck had begun to worry that he would be relegated to a career of "throwing people into their lockers", but Smith wrote him a lead role in the romantic comedy ''Chasing Amy
''Chasing Amy'' is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith and starring Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, and Jason Lee. The film is about a male comic artist (Affleck) who falls in love with a lesbian woman ...
'' (1997). The film was Affleck's breakthrough. Janet Maslin
Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, best known as a film and literary critic for ''The New York Times''. She served as a ''Times'' film critic from 1977 to 1999 and as a book critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000 Maslin ...
of ''The New York Times'' praised Affleck's "wonderful ease" playing the role, combining "suave good looks with cool comic timing". Owen Gleiberman of ''Entertainment Weekly'' described it as a "wholesome and quick-witted" performance. When Affleck starred as a recently returned Korean War veteran in the coming-of-age drama ''Going All the Way
''Going All the Way'' is a 1997 American comedy-drama film directed by Mark Pellington, in his feature film directorial debut. The film was written by Dan Wakefield, based on his 1970 novel and stars Jeremy Davies, Ben Affleck, Rachel Weisz, Amy ...
'' (1997), Todd McCarthy of ''Variety'' found him "excellent", while Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times'' noted that his "flair for comic self-doubt made a strong impression."
The success of 1997's ''Good Will Hunting
''Good Will Hunting'' is a 1997 American psychological drama film directed by Gus Van Sant, and written by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. It stars Robin Williams, Damon, Affleck, Stellan Skarsgård and Minnie Driver.
The film received positive r ...
'', which Affleck co-wrote and acted in, marked a turning point in his career. The screenplay originated in 1992 when Damon wrote a 40-page script for a playwriting class at Harvard University. He asked Affleck to act out the scenes with him in front of the class and, when Damon later moved into Affleck's Los Angeles apartment, they began working on the script in earnest. The film, which they wrote mainly during improvisation sessions, was set partly in their hometown of Cambridge and drew from their own experiences. They sold the screenplay to Castle Rock in 1994 when Affleck was 22 years old. During the development process, they received notes from industry figures, including Rob Reiner
Robert Norman Reiner (born March 6, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence with the role of Michael "Meathead" Stivic on the CBS sitcom ''All in the Family'' (1971–1979), a performan ...
and William Goldman
William Goldman (August 12, 1931 – November 16, 2018) was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. He won Academy Awards for his screenplays '' ...
. Following a lengthy dispute with Castle Rock about a suitable director, Affleck and Damon persuaded Miramax to purchase the screenplay. The two friends moved back to Boston for a year before the film finally went into production, directed by Gus Van Sant, and co-starring Damon, Affleck, Minnie Driver
Amelia Fiona Jessica "Minnie" Driver (born 31 January 1970) is an English actress. She rose to prominence with her break-out role in 1995's '' Circle of Friends''. She went on to star in a wide range of films including the cult classic '' Grosse ...
, and Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
. On its release, Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times'' praised the "smart and touching screenplay", while Emanuel Levy of ''Variety'' found it "funny, nonchalant, moving and angry". Jay Carr of ''The Boston Globe'' wrote that Affleck brought "a beautifully nuanced tenderness" to his role as the working-class friend of Damon's mathematical prodigy character. Affleck and Damon eventually won both the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Affleck has described this period of his life as "dreamlike": "It was like one of those scenes in an old movie when a newspaper comes spinning out of the black on to the screen. You know, '$100 Million Box Office! Awards!' " He remains the youngest writer (at age 25) ever to win an Oscar for screenwriting.
1998–2002: Leading man status
''Armageddon
According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...
'', released in 1998, established Affleck as a viable leading man for Hollywood studio films. ''Good Will Hunting'' had not yet been released during the casting process and, after Affleck's screen test
A screen test is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film or in a particular role. The performer is generally given a scene, or selected lines and actions, and instructed to perform in front of a came ...
, director Michael Bay dismissed him as "a geek". Producer Jerry Bruckheimer
Jerome Leon Bruckheimer (born September 21, 1943) is an American film and television producer. He has been active in the genres of action, drama, fantasy, and science fiction.
His films include '' Flashdance'', ''Top Gun'', '' The Rock'', '' ...
convinced him that Affleck would be a star, but he was required to lose weight, become tanned, and get his teeth capped before filming began. The film, where he starred opposite Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...
as a blue-collar driller tasked by NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
with stopping an asteroid from colliding with Earth, was a box office success. Daphne Merkin of ''The New Yorker'' remarked: "Affleck demonstrates a sexy Paul Newmanish charm and is clearly bound for stardom." Later in 1998, Affleck had a supporting role as an arrogant English actor in the period romantic comedy ''Shakespeare in Love
''Shakespeare in Love'' is a 1998 romantic period comedy-drama film directed by John Madden, written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard, and produced by Harvey Weinstein. It stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Geoffrey Rush, Colin ...
'', starring his then-girlfriend Gwyneth Paltrow. Lael Loewenstein of ''Variety'' remarked that Affleck "does some of his very best work, suggesting that comedy may be his true calling," while Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times'' found him "very funny". ''Shakespeare in Love'' won seven Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, including Best Picture
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...
, while the cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast. Affleck then appeared as a small-town sheriff in the supernatural horror film '' Phantoms''. Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' wondered why actors like Affleck and Peter O'Toole
Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old Vic ...
had agreed to appear in the "junky" film: "Affleck's thudding performance suggests he is reading his dialogue for the first time, directly from cue cards."
Affleck and Damon had an on-screen reunion in Kevin Smith's religious satire ''Dogma
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...
'' (after having appeared in Smith's previous films, ''Mallrats'' and ''Chasing Amy''), which premiered at the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. Janet Maslin of ''The New York Times'' remarked that the pair, playing fallen angels, "bring great, understandable enthusiasm to Mr. Smith's smart talk and wild imaginings". Affleck starred opposite Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Sandra Bullock, various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, Bullock was ...
in the romantic comedy '' Forces of Nature'' (1999), playing a groom whose attempts to get to his wedding are complicated by his free-spirited traveling companion. Owen Gleiberman of ''Entertainment Weekly'' remarked that Affleck "has the fast-break charm you want in a screwball hero," while Joe Leydon
Joseph Patrick Michael Leydon (born August 22, 1952) is an American film critic and historian. A critic and correspondent for ''Variety'' since 1990, he is the author of ''Joe Leydon's Guide to Essential Movies You Must See'' (Michael Wiese Prod ...
of ''Variety'' praised "his winning ability to play against his good looks in a self-effacing comic turn". Affleck then appeared opposite Courtney Love
Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...
in the little-seen ensemble comedy '' 200 Cigarettes'' (1999).
Interested in a directorial career, Affleck shadowed John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer (February 19, 1930 – July 6, 2002) was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films. Among his credits were ''Birdman of Alcatraz'' (1962), '' The Manchurian Candidate'' ( ...
throughout pre-production of the action thriller ''Reindeer Games
''Reindeer Games'' (alternatively titled ''Deception'') is a 2000 American action crime thriller film directed by John Frankenheimer in his final feature directorial outing before his 2002 death. It stars Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, Charlize T ...
'' (2000). Frankenheimer, directing his last feature film, described Affleck as having "a very winning, likable quality about him. I've been doing this for a long time and he's really one of the nicest." He starred opposite Charlize Theron as a hardened criminal, with Elvis Mitchell of ''The New York Times'' enjoying the unexpected casting choice: "Affleck often suggests one of the Kennedys playing Clark Kent ... He looks as if he has never missed a party or a night's sleep. He's game, though, and his slight dislocation works to the advantage of ''Reindeer Games''." He then had a supporting role as a ruthless stockbroker in the crime drama '' Boiler Room'' (2000). A.O. Scott of ''The New York Times'' felt Affleck had "traced over" Alec Baldwin's performance in '' Glengarry Glen Ross'', while Peter Rainer of ''New York Magazine'' said he "does a series of riffs on Baldwin's aria, and each one is funnier and crueler than the next". He then provided the voice of Joseph in the animated '' Joseph: King of Dreams''. In his last film role of 2000, Affleck starred opposite his girlfriend Paltrow in the romantic drama ''Bounce
Bounce or The Bounce may refer to:
* Deflection (physics), the event where an object Collision, collides with and bounces against a plane surface
Books
* Mr. Bounce, a character from the Mr. Men series of children's books
Broadcasting, film and ...
''. Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' praised the "understated intensity and exquisite detail" of his performance: "His portrait of a young, sarcastically self-defined 'people person' who isn't half as confident as he would like to appear is close to definitive."
Affleck reunited with director Michael Bay for the critically derided war drama ''Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
'' (2001). A.O. Scott of ''The New York Times'' felt Affleck and Kate Beckinsale
Kathrin Romany Beckinsale (born 26 July 1973) is an English actress and model. After some minor television roles, her film debut was ''Much Ado About Nothing'' (1993) while a student at the University of Oxford. She appeared in British costume ...
"do what they can with their lines, and glow with the satiny shine of real movie stars". However, Todd McCarthy of ''Variety'' wrote "the blandly handsome Affleck couldn't convince that he'd ever so much as been turned down for a date, much less lost the love of his life to his best friend". Affleck then parodied ''Good Will Hunting'' with Damon and Van Sant in Kevin Smith's ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'' is a 2001 American satirical stoner buddy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, the fifth to be set in his View Askewniverse, a growing collection of characters and settings that developed out of h ...
'' (2001), made a cameo in the comedy ''Daddy and Them
''Daddy and Them'' is a 2001 American comedy-drama, comedy-drama film written, directed by, and starring Billy Bob Thornton. In addition to Thornton, it stars John Prine, Laura Dern, Andy Griffith, Ben Affleck, Kelly Preston, Diane Ladd, Brenda Bl ...
'' (2001), and had a supporting role in the little-seen '' The Third Wheel'' (2002). He portrayed the CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
analyst Jack Ryan in the thriller '' The Sum of All Fears'' (2002). Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' felt he was miscast in a role previously played by both Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin: "Although Mr. Affleck can be appealing when playing earnest young men groping toward maturity, he simply lacks the gravitas for the role." Affleck had an "amazing experience" making the thriller ''Changing Lanes
''Changing Lanes'' is a 2002 American drama thriller film directed by Roger Michell and starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. The film follows a successful, young Wall Street lawyer (Affleck) who accidentally crashes his car into a vehicle ...
'' (2002), and later cited Roger Michell as someone he learned from as a director. Robert Koehler of ''Variety'' described it as one of his "most thoroughly wrought" performances: "The journey into a moral fog compels him to play more inwardly and thoughtfully than he ever has before."
Affleck became more involved with television and film production in the early 2000s. He and Damon had set up Pearl Street Films
Pearl Street Films was an American film and television production company based at Warner Bros. Studios.
History
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck established it, and Jennifer Todd
Jennifer Todd (born October 3, 1969) is an American film and tel ...
in 1998, named after the street that ran between their childhood homes. Their next production company LivePlanet
LivePlanet was a production company founded in 2000, and was known for television and new media platforms.
History
It was created by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore and Sean Bailey. Affleck and Damon ended their film production deal in lat ...
, co-founded in 2000 with Sean Bailey
Sean Bailey is an American film and television producer. Bailey is currently the president of Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Production, a role he has served since his appointment in 2010.
Career Early career
As a co-founder and executiv ...
and Chris Moore, sought to integrate the Internet into mainstream television and film production. LivePlanet's biggest success was the documentary series ''Project Greenlight
''Project Greenlight'' is an American documentary television series focusing on first-time filmmakers being given the chance to direct a feature film. It was created by Alex Keledjian, developed by Eli Holzman and produced by Ben Affleck, Matt ...
'', aired on HBO and later Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
, which focused on first-time filmmakers being given the chance to direct a feature film. ''Project Greenlight'' was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program was a category award handed out annually at the Creative Arts Emmy Award ceremony.
In 2014, Outstanding Reality Program was separated into two categories – Outstanding Structured Reality ...
in 2002, 2004 and 2005. ''Push, Nevada
''Push, Nevada'' is an American mystery television series set in the fictional town of Push, Nevada. It premiered on September 17, 2002 on ABC, and ran for 7 episodes before it became one of the first shows to be canceled during the Fall 2002 s ...
'' (2002), created, written and produced by Affleck and Bailey, was an ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
mystery drama series that placed a viewer-participation game within the frame of the show. Caryn James
Caryn A. James (born Caryn A. Fuoroli) is an American film critic, journalist, university lecturer and writer.
Biography
James is one of at least three children born to James M. Fuoroli Sr. and Joan A. Ford. A native of Providence, Rhode Isla ...
of ''The New York Times'' praised the show's "nerve, imagination and clever writing", but Robert Bianco of ''USA Today'' described it as a "knock-off" of ''Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...
''. The show was cancelled by ABC after seven episodes due to low ratings. Over time, LivePlanet's focus shifted from multimedia projects to more traditional film production. Affleck and his partners signed a film production deal with Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
in 2002; it expired in 2007.
2003–2005: Career downturn and tabloid notoriety
While Affleck had been a tabloid figure for much of his career, he was the subject of increased media attention in 2003 because of his relationship with Jennifer Lopez. By the end of the year, Affleck had become, in the words of ''GQ'', the "world's most over-exposed actor". His tabloid fame coincided with a series of poorly received films.
The first of these was '' Daredevil'' (2003), in which Affleck starred as the blind superhero. Affleck was a longtime comic book fan, and, in 1999, had written a foreword for Kevin Smith's ''Guardian Devil
"Guardian Devil" is an eight-issue Daredevil story arc originally published by Marvel Comics in ''Daredevil'' (vol. 2) #1-8. It features the hero suddenly caring for an infant that may be either the Messiah or the Antichrist. The issues were writt ...
'' about his love for the character of Daredevil. The film was a commercial success, but received a mixed response from critics. Elvis Mitchell of ''The New York Times'' said Affleck was "lost" in the role: "A big man, Mr. Affleck is shriveled by the one-dimensional role ... nly_his_scenes_with_nly_his_scenes_with_Jon_Favreau_have">Jon_Favreau.html"_;"title="nly_his_scenes_with_Jon_Favreau">nly_his_scenes_with_Jon_Favreau_havea_playful_side_that_allows_Mr._Affleck_to_show_his_generosity_as_an_actor."_In_2014,_Affleck_described_''Daredevil''_as_the_only_film_he_regretted_making.
_He_next_appeared_as_a_low-ranking_mobster_in_the_romantic_comedy_''Gigli_(film).html" "title="Jon_Favreau_have.html" ;"title="Jon_Favreau.html" ;"title="nly his scenes with Jon Favreau">nly his scenes with Jon Favreau have">Jon_Favreau.html" ;"title="nly his scenes with Jon Favreau">nly his scenes with Jon Favreau havea playful side that allows Mr. Affleck to show his generosity as an actor." In 2014, Affleck described ''Daredevil'' as the only film he regretted making.
He next appeared as a low-ranking mobster in the romantic comedy ''Gigli (film)">Gigli
''Gigli'' ( ) is a 2003 American romantic comedy crime film written and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Justin Bartha, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan.
Despite popular media giving attention a ...
'' (2003), co-starring Lopez. The film was almost uniformly panned, with Manohla Dargis of the ''Los Angeles Times'' remarking that "Affleck doesn't have the chops or the charm to maneuver around (or past) bad material." Yet Affleck has repeatedly defended director Martin Brest since the film's release, describing him as "one of the really great directors". In his last film role of 2003, Affleck starred as a Reverse engineering, reverse engineer in the sci-fi thriller ''Paycheck
A paycheck, also spelled paycheque, pay check or pay cheque, is traditionally a paper document (a cheque) issued by an employer to pay an employee for services rendered. In recent times, the physical paycheck has been increasingly replaced by ...
'' (2003). Peter Bradshaw of ''The Guardian'' remarked on Affleck's "self-deprecating charm" and wondered why he could not find better scripts. Manohla Dargis of the ''Los Angeles Times'' found it "almost unfair" to critique Affleck, given that he "had such a rough year".
Affleck's poor critical notices continued in 2004 when he starred as a bereaved husband in the romantic comedy '' Jersey Girl'', directed by longtime collaborator Smith. Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' described Affleck as an actor "whose talent has curdled as his tabloid notoriety has spread," while Joe Leydon of ''Variety'' found his onscreen role as a father "affecting". Later that year, he starred opposite James Gandolfini
James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. For his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'', he won three Emmy Awards, five Screen ...
in the holiday comedy ''Surviving Christmas
''Surviving Christmas'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy film directed by Mike Mitchell, written by Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan, Jennifer Ventimilia, and Joshua Sternin, based on a story by Elfont and Kaplan, and starring Ben Affleck, Jam ...
''. Holden noted in ''The New York Times'' that the film "found a clever way to use Ben Affleck's disagreeable qualities. The actor's shark-like grin, cocky petulance and bullying frat-boy swagger befit his character." At this point, the quality of scripts offered to Affleck "was just getting worse and worse" and he decided to take a career break. The ''Los Angeles Times'' published a piece on the downfall of Affleck's career in late 2004. The article noted that, unlike film critics and tabloid journalists, "few industry professionals seem to be gloating over Affleck's travails".
2006–2015: Emergence as a director
Following a starring role in the little-seen '' Man About Town'' and a minor role in the crime drama ''Smokin' Aces
''Smokin' Aces'' is a 2006 American action comedy film written and directed by Joe Carnahan. The film centers on the chase for Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant Robert 'Buddy Aces' Israel (Jeremy Piven), on whom a one-million-dollar bounty ...
'', Affleck began a career comeback with his acclaimed performance as Superman
Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...
actor George Reeves
George Reeves (born George Keefer Brewer; January 5, 1914 – June 16, 1959) was an American actor. He is best known for portraying Superman in the television series '' Adventures of Superman'' (1952–1958).
His death at age 45 from a g ...
in the noir biopic ''Hollywoodland
''Hollywoodland'' is a 2006 American film directed by Allen Coulter and written by Paul Bernbaum. The story presents a fictionalized account of the circumstances surrounding the death of actor George Reeves (played by Ben Affleck), the star of ...
''. Peter Travers
Peter Joseph Travers (born ) is an American film critic, journalist, and television presenter. He reviews films for ABC News and previously served as a movie critic for ''People'' and ''Rolling Stone''. Travers also hosts the film interview prog ...
of ''Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' praised "an award-caliber performance ... This is feeling, nuanced work from an actor some of us had prematurely written off." Geoffrey Macnab of ''The Guardian'' said he "beautifully" captured "the character's curious mix of charm, vulnerability and fatalism". He was awarded the Volpi Cup
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
at the Venice Film Festival
The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival he ...
and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor. Also in 2006, he made a cameo in Smith's ''Clerks II
''Clerks II'' is a 2006 American comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, the sequel to his 1994 film ''Clerks'', and his sixth feature film to be set in the View Askewniverse. The film stars Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Rosario Daw ...
''.
In 2007, Affleck made his feature film directorial debut with ''Gone Baby Gone
''Gone Baby Gone'' is a 2007 American crime thriller film directed by Ben Affleck
Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards and a ...
'', a crime drama set in a working-class Boston neighborhood, starring his brother Casey as a private investigator searching for a young abductee. Affleck co‑wrote the screenplay, based on the book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical arr ...
by Dennis Lehane
Dennis Lehane (born August 4, 1965) is an American author. He has published more than a dozen novels; the first several were a series of mysteries featuring recurring characters, including ''A Drink Before the War''. Of these, four were adapted a ...
, with childhood friend Aaron Stockard, having first mentioned his intention to adapt the story in 2003. It opened to enthusiastic reviews. Manohla Dargis of ''The New York Times'' praised the film's "sensitivity to real struggle", while Stephen Farber of ''The Hollywood Reporter
''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' described it as "thoughtful, deeply poignant, ndsplendidly executed".
While Affleck intended to "keep a primary emphasis on directing" going forward in his career, he acted in three films in 2009. In the ensemble romantic comedy '' He's Just Not That Into You'', the chemistry between Affleck and Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston (born February 11, 1969) is an American actress and film producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Since her career ...
was praised. Affleck played a congressman in the political thriller '' State of Play''. Wesley Morris of ''The Boston Globe'' found him "very good in the film's silliest role," but David Edelstein of ''New York Magazine'' remarked of Affleck: "He might be smart and thoughtful in life utas an actor his wheels turn too slowly." He had a supporting role as a bartender in the little-seen comedy film '' Extract''. Peter Travers of ''Rolling Stone'' described his performance as "a goofball delight", while Manohla Dargis of ''The New York Times'' declared it "a real performance". In 2010, Affleck starred in ''The Company Men
''The Company Men'' is 2010 American drama film, written and directed by John Wells. It features Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones.
It premiered at the 26th Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2010 and had a on ...
'' as a mid-level sales executive who is made redundant during the financial crisis of 2007–2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
. David Denby of ''The New Yorker'' declared that Affleck "gives his best performance yet", while Richard Corliss of ''Time'' found he "nails Bobby's plunge from hubris to humiliation".
Following the modest commercial success of ''Gone Baby Gone'', Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
developed a close working relationship with Affleck and offered him his choice of the studio's scripts. He decided to direct the crime drama '' The Town'' (2010), an adaptation of Chuck Hogan
Charles Patrick Hogan is an American novelist, screenwriter, and television producer. He is best known as the author of ''Prince of Thieves'', and as the co-author of ''The Strain'' trilogy with Guillermo del Toro. Alongside del Toro, Hogan creat ...
's novel ''Prince of Thieves''. He also re-wrote the screenplay and starred in the film as a bank robber. The film became a surprise box office hit, and gained further critical acclaim for Affleck. A.O. Scott of ''The New York Times'' praised his "skill and self-confidence as a serious director," while Roger Ebert of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' noted: "Affleck has the stuff of a real director. Everything is here. It's an effective thriller, he works closely with actors, he has a feel for pacing." Also in 2010, Affleck and Damon's production company, Pearl Street Films, signed a first-look producing deal at Warner Bros.
Affleck soon began work on his next directorial project, '' Argo'' (2012), for Warner Bros. Written by Chris Terrio
Chris Terrio (born December 31, 1976) is an American screenwriter and film director. He is best known for writing the screenplay for the 2012 film ''Argo'', for which he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Terrio also won the W ...
and starring Affleck as a CIA operative, the film tells the story of the CIA plan to save six U.S. diplomats during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis
On November 4, 1979, 52 United States diplomats and citizens were held hostage after a group of militarized Iranian college students belonging to the Muslim Student Followers of the Imam's Line, who supported the Iranian Revolution, took over ...
by faking a production for a large-scale science fiction film. Anthony Lane of ''The New Yorker'' said the film offered "further proof that we were wrong about Ben Affleck". Peter Travers of ''Rolling Stone'' remarked: "Affleck takes the next step in what looks like a major directing career ... He directs the hell out of it, nailing the quickening pace, the wayward humor, the nerve-frying suspense." A major critical and commercial success, ''Argo'' won the Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
, Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, and BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
for Best Picture. The cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast. Affleck himself won the Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, Directors Guild of America Award
The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards.
Catego ...
, and BAFTA Award
The British Academy Film Awards, more commonly known as the BAFTA Film Awards is an annual award show hosted by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) to honour the best British and international contributions to film. The cer ...
for Best Director, becoming the first director to win these awards without a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Director
The Academy Award for Best Director (officially known as the Academy Award of Merit for Directing) is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibi ...
.
The following year, Affleck played a romantic lead in Terrence Malick
Terrence Frederick Malick (born November 30, 1943) is an American filmmaker. His films include '' Days of Heaven'' (1978), '' The Thin Red Line'' (1998), for which he received Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenp ...
's experimental drama ''To the Wonder
''To the Wonder'' is a 2012 American experimental romantic drama film written and directed by Terrence Malick and starring Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Rachel McAdams, and Javier Bardem. Filmed in Oklahoma and Paris, the film chronicles a couple ...
''. Malick, a close friend of Affleck's godfather, first met Affleck in the 1990s to offer advice about the plot of ''Good Will Hunting''. Peter Bradshaw of ''The Guardian'' enjoyed "a performance of dignity and sensitivity," while ''The New Yorker''s Richard Brody described Affleck as "a solid and muscular performer" who "conveys a sense of thoughtful and willful individuality". Affleck's performance as a poker boss was considered a highlight of the poorly reviewed thriller ''Runner Runner
''Runner Runner'' is a 2013 American crime thriller film directed by Brad Furman, written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien and starring Justin Timberlake, Ben Affleck, Gemma Arterton and Anthony Mackie.
The film was released in the United S ...
'' (2013). Betsy Sharkey of the ''Los Angeles Times'' remarked that it was "one killer of a character, and Affleck plays him like a Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...
concerto – every note perfectly played." He then pushed back production on his own directorial project to star as a husband accused of murder in David Fincher's psychological thriller '' Gone Girl'' (2014). Fincher cast him partly because he understood what it felt like to be misrepresented by tabloid media: "What many people don't know is that he's crazy smart, but since he doesn't want that to get awkward, he downplays it. I think he learned how to skate on charm." David Edelstein of ''New York Magazine'' noted that Fincher's controlled style of directing had a "remarkable" effect on Affleck's acting: "I never thought I'd write these words, but he carries the movie. He's terrific." Justin Chang of ''Variety'' found Affleck "perfectly cast": "It's a tricky turn, requiring a measure of careful underplaying and emotional aloofness, and he nails it completely." In 2015, Affleck and Damon's ''Project Greenlight'' was resurrected by HBO for one season.
2016–2019: Batman and continued directing
Given Affleck's growing reputation as a filmmaker, his decision to star as Batman in the 2016 superhero film '' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'' was regarded by Dave Itzkoff of ''The New York Times'' as "a somewhat bewildering choice". Although the casting announcement was met with intense fan backlash, Affleck's performance ultimately earned a positive reception. Andrew Barker of ''Variety'' found him "a winningly cranky, charismatic presence," while Brian Truitt of ''USA Today'' enjoyed his "strong" and "surprisingly emotional" take on the character. Affleck reprised his role as Batman later that year, making a brief cameo appearance in ''Suicide Squad
The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...
'' (2016). He starred as an autistic
The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...
accountant in the action thriller '' The Accountant'' (2016), which was an unexpected commercial success. Peter Debruge of ''Variety'' felt Affleck's "boy-next-door" demeanor – "so normal and non-actorly that most of his performances feel like watching one of your buddies up on screen" – was "a terrific fit" for the role. Stephen Holden of ''The New York Times'' wondered why Affleck, "looking appropriately dead-eyed and miserable," committed himself to the film.
''Live by Night
''Live by Night'' is a crime novel by American writer Dennis Lehane, published in 2012. It won a 2013 Edgar Award for novel of the year.
Plot summary
By 1926, Prohibition in the United States gives rise to an endless network of underground ...
'', which Affleck wrote, directed, co-produced, and starred in, was released in late 2016. Adapted from Dennis Lehane
Dennis Lehane (born August 4, 1965) is an American author. He has published more than a dozen novels; the first several were a series of mysteries featuring recurring characters, including ''A Drink Before the War''. Of these, four were adapted a ...
's novel of the same name, the Prohibition
Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic ...
-era gangster drama received largely unenthusiastic reviews and failed to recoup its $65 million production budget. David Sims of ''The Atlantic'' described it as "a fascinating mess of a movie" and criticized Affleck's "stiff, uncomfortable" performance. He noted that one of the last action scenes "is so wonderfully staged, its action crisp and easy to follow, that it reminds you what skill Affleck has with the camera". In October 2016, Affleck and Damon made a one-off stage appearance for a live reading of the ''Good Will Hunting'' screenplay at New York's Skirball Theater. The superhero film ''Justice League
The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived ...
'', in which Affleck returned as Batman, was released in 2017. He later described it as a "difficult" on-set experience. Snyder stepped down during filming due to the death of his daughter by suicide, the replacement director Joss Whedon
Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...
's treatment of actors was the subject of complaints, and Affleck himself was struggling with addiction issues. The film drew mixed opinions from critics; Todd McCarthy of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote that Affleck "looks like he'd rather be almost anywhere else but here."
Amidst an alcoholism relapse, Affleck did not work in 2017. He stepped down as director, writer and, ultimately, as the star of ''The Batman
Batman is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.
Batman or The Batman may also refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
Characters
* Batman (Terry McGinnis)
* Batman (Thomas Wayne)
* Batman (Earth-Two)
* Batma ...
'', saying he "couldn't crack it" and no longer felt "passionate" about the story. Years later, he said his alcoholism had also been a factor in his decision. Filming of the drug-trafficking thriller ''Triple Frontier
The Triple Frontier ( es, Triple Frontera, pt, Tríplice Fronteira) is a tri-border area along the junction of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay, where the Iguazú and Paraná rivers converge. Near the confluence are the cities of Puerto Igua ...
'' was postponed by six months in order to accommodate his treatment for "health issues". Upon ''Triple Frontier'' release in 2019, Rodrigo Perez of ''The Playlist'' remarked that director J.C. Chandor "gets a lot of mileage out of the Sad Affleck narrative and perhaps both director and actor lean into the idea." Later in 2019, Affleck made a cameo appearance in ''Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
''Jay and Silent Bob Reboot'' is a 2019 American satirical buddy stoner comedy film written, directed, edited by, and starring Kevin Smith. Referring to his 2001 comedy ''Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back'', Smith has described the film as a rema ...
'', having had little contact with Kevin Smith since the making of ''Clerks II'' in 2006. Affleck played a supporting role as a diplomat in Dee Rees
Diandrea Rees (born February 7, 1977) is an American screenwriter and director. She is known for her feature films '' Pariah'' (2011), '' Bessie'' (2015), '' Mudbound'' (2017), and '' The Last Thing He Wanted'' (2020). Rees has also written and d ...
's political thriller '' The Last Thing He Wanted'' (2020). The Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
movie, filmed in mid-2018, received negative reviews from critics, with Tomris Laffly of ''Variety'' describing Affleck's performance as "oddly removed".
2020–2022: Supporting roles
Affleck's starring role as a recovering alcoholic in the sports drama '' The Way Back'' (2020) was widely praised. The themes of the movie were "close to home" for Affleck. He relapsed during pre-production in 2018[ and the movie was shot in the days after he left rehab; Affleck agreed to put his salary in escrow and was accompanied to set by a sober coach. Richard Lawson of ''Vanity Fair'' said it was hard to avoid the movie's "meta angle": "Affleck handles his self-conscious task with a generous humility—giving a performance built not out of histrionics or big actor moments, but instead from the messy details of a man in a plateaued distress". David Sims of ''The Atlantic'' praised the "subtlety", "vulnerability" and "lumbering physicality" of his performance, describing it as "the rawest and most natural" work of his career. Due to the ]COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, cinemas closed in the second week of the movie's release and Warner Bros. made it available to view-on-demand earlier than scheduled. He received a Best Actor nomination at the 2021 Critics' Choice Awards. Also in 2021, Snyder's director's cut of ''Justice League'' featured a newly filmed scene with Affleck.
Affleck had supporting roles in two 2021 releases. He played a hedonistic aristocrat in Ridley Scott's medieval drama '' The Last Duel''; he also co-wrote the movie's screenplay with Matt Damon and Nicole Holofcener
Nicole Holofcener (; born March 22, 1960) is an American film and television director and screenwriter. She has directed six feature films, including ''Walking and Talking'', '' Friends with Money'' and ''Enough Said'', as well as various televis ...
. Ben Croll of ''Indiewire'' said that Affleck, "hamming it up under a bleach blonde mop top", was "just an absolute joy whenever he's onscreen". Bilge Ebiri of ''New York Magazine'' was impressed by Affleck's "imperious" performance as the "wonderfully skeezy Pierre, a marvelously out-there creation who shouldn't work at all and yet becomes an engine of uneasy delights." Brian Truitt of ''USA Today'' said he "steals the movie": "He seems to have written the most entertaining character in the movie for himself, but we'll allow it." In December 2021, Affleck appeared as a substitute father figure in George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney (born May 6, 1961) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by George Clooney, numerous accolades, including a British Academy Film Awards, British Academy Film A ...
's coming-of-age drama '' The Tender Bar''. The film premiered at the London Film Festival, with Clooney remarking that he cast Affleck because he is "very intelligent, and he can also come off as the big goomba." Sheri Linden of ''The Hollywood Reporter'' wrote that Uncle Charlie was "an unforgettable character, from his very first appearance onscreen" and enjoyed Affleck's "eye-opening" and "exquisitely inflected performance". Pete Hammond of ''Deadline'' described it as "a part he was born to play", writing that he "beautifully and knowingly" delivered "an unforgettable portrait of the uncle you wish you had." Kevin Maher of ''The Times'' said he played the role with "extraordinary subtly and depth": "He dominates his every scene, with deftly delivered quips, comedy reaction shots or sheer hang-dog charisma alone." For the role, Affleck was nominated for the Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
and Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2022, Affleck and Ana de Armas
Ana Celia de Armas Caso (; born 30 April 1988) is a Cuban and Spanish actress. She began her career in Cuba and had a leading role in the romantic drama '' Una rosa de Francia'' (2006). At age 18, she moved to Madrid, Spain, and starred in t ...
starred in Adrian Lyne's thriller '' Deep Water'', an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel. He also made a cameo appearance in Kevin Smith's ''Clerks III
''Clerks III'' is a 2022 American comedy-drama film written, produced, directed, and edited by Kevin Smith and stars Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Trevor Fehrman, Austin Zajur, Jason Mewes, Rosario Dawson, and Smith. It serves as a standalon ...
''.
2022–present: Artists Equity
Affleck and Damon announced in November 2022 that they were setting up an independent production company called "Artists Equity" with funding from RedBird Capital Partners, in response to film studios refusing to share profits from their films with creative artists and restricting creative control. Affleck announced that he would serve as the CEO, while Damon would serve as the chief creative officer
A chief creative officer (CCO) is the highest ranking position of the creative team within a company. Depending on the type of company, this position may be responsible for the overall look and feel of marketing, media, and branding associated wit ...
and Michael Joe would serve as the chief operating officer
A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...
. In addition, Affleck would be exclusive to Artists Equity as a filmmaker, while Damon will star in a number of films and exclusively produce for the studio. Meanwhile, Damon and Affleck closed Pearl Street Films.
The first film to be released through Artists Equity will be Affleck's fifth directorial project, a sports marketing drama about Nike
Nike often refers to:
* Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory
* Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment
Nike may also refer to:
People
* Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...
's signing of Michael Jordan, starring Viola Davis
Viola Davis (; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the only African-American to achieve the Triple Crow ...
and Damon, with Affleck playing the supporting role of Phil Knight
Philip Hampson Knight (born February 24, 1938) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder and chairman ''emeritus'' of Nike, Inc., and was previously chairman and CEO of the company. As of October 3, 2022, Knight was ranke ...
. Affleck and Damon co-wrote the script with Alex Convery.
Affleck will reprise his role as Batman in ''The Flash
The Flash (or simply Flash) is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date ...
'' and ''Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
''Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom'' is an upcoming American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Aquaman. Produced by DC Studios, the Safran Company, and Atomic Monster Productions, and set for distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures, ...
'', both releasing in 2023, in the form of cameo appearances. In addition, he will star in the action thriller ''Hypnotic'' produced by Robert Rodriguez
Robert Anthony Rodriguez (; born June 20, 1968) is an American filmmaker, composer, and visual effects supervisor. He shoots, edits, produces, and scores many of his films in Mexico and in his home state of Texas. Rodriguez directed the 1992 ac ...
, in which he plays a detective.
On December 14, 2022, DC Studios
DC Studios is an American film and television studio that is a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. It is dedicated to the production of films, series, and animations based on characters from DC Comics, am ...
co-CEO and chairperson James Gunn
James Francis Gunn Jr. (born August 5, 1966) is an American filmmaker and executive. He began his career as a screenwriter in the mid-1990s, starting at Troma Entertainment with ''Tromeo and Juliet'' (1997). He then began working as a directo ...
revealed on social media that he and Peter Safran
Peter Safran (born 22 November 1965) is a British-American film producer and manager. He currently serves as the co-chairperson and CEO of DC Studios alongside James Gunn.
Early life
After growing up in the UK, Safran graduated from Princeton Un ...
were having active talks with Affleck to direct a new DC film.
Humanitarian work
Eastern Congo Initiative
After travelling in the region between 2007 and early 2010, Affleck and Whitney Williams co-founded the nonprofit organization Eastern Congo Initiative
The Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI) is an American nonprofit organization established by Ben Affleck and Whitney Williams in 2010 as "the first U.S.-based advocacy and grant-making initiative wholly focused on working with and for the people of eas ...
in 2010. ECI acts as a grant maker for Congolese-led, community-based charities. It offers training and resources to cooperatives of Congolese farmers while leveraging partnerships with companies including Theo Chocolate
Theo Chocolate is an American chocolate maker headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Established in 2006, it is the first organic fair trade-certified cocoa producer in the United States."Fair Trade Gambit. (Cover Story)." Candy Industry 171.9 (200 ...
and Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
. ECI also aims to raise public awareness and drive policy change in the United States.
Affleck has written op-eds about issues facing eastern Congo for the ''Washington Post'', ''Politico'', the ''Huffington Post'', ''Time'', ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. He has appeared as a discussion panelist at many events, including at the Center for Strategic and International Studies
The Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) is an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. CSIS was founded as the Center for Strategic and International Studies of Georgetown University in 1962. The center conducts polic ...
, the Global Philanthropy Forum
The Global Philanthropy Forum (GPF) is an initiative of the World Affairs Council which acts as a peer-learning network of philanthropists — grant-makers and social investors — committed to advancing equity and opportunity in the d ...
, and the Clinton Global Initiative
The Clinton Foundation (founded in 2001 as the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, and renamed in 2013 as the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation) is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was es ...
. During visits to Washington D.C., Affleck has testified before the House Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health and Human Rights, the House Armed Services Committee
The U.S. House Committee on Armed Services, commonly known as the House Armed Services Committee or HASC, is a standing committee of the United States House of Representatives. It is responsible for funding and oversight of the Department of De ...
, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee
The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid p ...
, and the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Projects.
Other charitable causes
Affleck is a supporter of the A-T Children's Project. While filming ''Forces of Nature'' in 1998, Affleck befriended ten-year-old Joe Kindregan (1988–2015), who had the rare disease ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T), and his family. He became actively involved in fundraising for A-T, and he and Kindregan testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services, and Education in 2001, asking senators to support stem-cell research and to double the budget of the National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
. In 2007, Affleck was the keynote speaker at Kindregan's high school graduation ceremony in Fairfax, Virginia. Kindregan appeared as an extra in ''Argo'' (2012). In 2013, in celebration of Kindregan's 25th birthday and "15 years of friendship with Joe and his family," Affleck and Garner matched donations made to the A-T Children's Project. Affleck appeared in ''CinemAbility'' (2013), a documentary film which explores Hollywood's portrayals of people with disabilities.
As part of USO
The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...
-sponsored tours, Affleck visited marines stationed in the Persian Gulf in 2003, and troops at Germany's Ramstein Air Base
Ramstein Air Base or Ramstein AB is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) and also ...
in 2017. He is a supporter of Paralyzed Veterans of America
The Paralyzed Veterans of America is a veterans' service organization in the United States of America, founded in 1946. The organization holds 33 chapters and 70 National Service Offices in the United States and Puerto Rico. It is based in Washin ...
. He filmed public service announcements for the organization in both 2009 and 2014. He has also volunteered on behalf of Operation Gratitude
The South China Sea raid (designated Operation Gratitude) was an operation conducted by the United States Third Fleet between 10 and 20 January 1945 during the Pacific War of World War II. The raid was undertaken to support the liberation of L ...
.
Affleck is a member of Feeding America
Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. ...
's Entertainment Council. He made an appearance at the Greater Boston Food Bank
The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB), located in Boston, Massachusetts, is a non-profit organization that serves more than 500,000 people each year through a network of nearly 600 member hunger-relief agencies throughout eastern Massachusetts. The ...
in 2007, and at a Denver food bank in 2008. Affleck spoke at a Feeding America rally in Washington D.C. in 2009, and filmed a public service announcement for the charity in 2010. Affleck and Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...
launched Feeding America's Small Change Campaign in 2011. Also that year, he and Howard Graham Buffett
Howard Graham Buffett (born December 16, 1954) is an American businessman, former politician, philanthropist, photographer, farmer, and conservationist. He is the middle child of billionaire investor Warren Buffett. He is named after Howard B ...
co-wrote an article for ''The Huffington Post'', highlighting the "growing percentage of the food insecure population that is not eligible for federal nutrition programs". During the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Affleck organized an online celebrity poker tournament to benefit the charity, made a personal donation and urged others to support the cause.
Affleck is a vocal supporter of the Los Angeles-based homelessness charity Midnight Mission
The Midnight Mission is a human services organization in downtown Los Angeles' Skid Row. . He has volunteered at and donated to the charity. He has also volunteered at Atlanta Mission.
Politics
Political views
Affleck has described himself as "moderately liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
." He was raised in "a very strong union
Union commonly refers to:
* Trade union, an organization of workers
* Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets
Union may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Music
* Union (band), an American rock group
** ''Un ...
household". In 2000, he spoke at a rally at Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
in support of an increased living wage for all workers on campus; his father worked as a janitor at the university. He later narrated a documentary, ''Occupation'' (2002), about a sit-in organized by the Harvard Living Wage Campaign. Affleck and Senator Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
held a press conference on Capitol Hill in 2004, pushing for an increase in the minimum wage. He spoke at a 2007 press conference at Boston's City Hall in support of SEIU
Service Employees International Union (SEIU) is a labor union representing almost 1.9 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States and Canada. SEIU is focused on organizing workers in three sectors: healthcare (over half of members ...
's unionization efforts for the city's low-paid hospital workers. During the Writers' Strike in 2008, Affleck voiced support for the picketers.
Affleck is pro-choice
Abortion-rights movements, also referred to as pro-choice movements, advocate for the right to have legal access to induced abortion services including elective abortion. They seek to represent and support women who wish to terminate their pr ...
. In a 2000 interview, he stated that he believes "very strongly in a woman's right to choose". In 2012, he supported the Draw the Line campaign, describing reproductive rights as "fundamental". Affleck was a longtime supporter of legalizing gay marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
, saying in 2004 that he hoped to look back on the marriage debate "with some degree of embarrassment for how antiquated it was". Also that year, he remarked that it was "outrageous and offensive" to suggest members of the transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
community were not entitled to equal rights. He appeared alongside his gay cousin in a 2005 Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays
PFLAG is the United States' first and largest organization uniting parents, families, and allies with people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+). PFLAG National is the national organization, which provides support to ...
print advertising campaign.
Affleck appeared at a press conference with New York Senator Chuck Schumer
Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...
in 2002, in support of a proposed Anti-Nuclear Terrorism Prevention Act. In 2003, he criticized the "questionable and aggressive" use of the Patriot Act
The USA PATRIOT Act (commonly known as the Patriot Act) was a landmark Act of the United States Congress, signed into law by President George W. Bush. The formal name of the statute is the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appro ...
and the resulting "encroachments on civil liberties". A reporter for ''The Washington Post'' overheard Affleck denouncing the Israeli invasion of Gaza at a Washington party in 2009. Steven Clemons
Steven Craig Clemons (born 1962) is an American journalist and blogger. In March 2022, he became Founding Editor at Large of ''Semafor'', Justin Smith and Ben Smith’s new media startup, to create their global events vertical. He spent three yea ...
, a participant in the conversation, said Affleck listened "to alternative takes ... What Affleck spoke about that night was reasoned, complex and made a lot of sense." Later that year, in a ''New York Times'' interview, Affleck remarked that his views were closer to those of the Israeli Labor Party
The Israeli Labor Party ( he, מִפְלֶגֶת הָעֲבוֹדָה הַיִּשְׂרְאֵלִית, ), commonly known as HaAvoda ( he, הָעֲבוֹדָה, , The Labor), is a social democratic and Zionist political party in Israel. The p ...
than Likud
Likud ( he, הַלִּיכּוּד, HaLikud, The Consolidation), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement, is a major centre-right to right-wing political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sha ...
.
Affleck criticized the Bush tax cuts
The phrase Bush tax cuts refers to changes to the United States tax code passed originally during the presidency of George W. Bush and extended during the presidency of Barack Obama, through:
* Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act o ...
on many occasions. In 2007, he filmed a public service announcement for Divided We Fail, a nonpartisan AARP campaign seeking affordable, quality healthcare for all Americans.
During the 2008 presidential campaign, Affleck expressed concern about conspiracy theories claiming Barack Obama was an Arab or a Muslim: "This prejudice that we have allowed to fester in this campaign ... the acceptance of both of those things as a legitimate slur is really a problem." In 2012, he praised Senator John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
's leadership in defending Huma Abedin
Huma Mahmood Abedin ( ur, ; born July 28, 1975) is an American political staffer who was vice chair of Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign for President of the United States. Before that, Abedin was deputy chief of staff to Clinton when she was U.S ...
against anti-Muslim attacks. Affleck engaged in a discussion about the relationship between liberal principles and Islam during a 2014 appearance on ''Real Time with Bill Maher
''Real Time with Bill Maher'' is an American television talk show that airs weekly on HBO, hosted by comedian and political satirist Bill Maher. Much like his previous series ''Politically Incorrect'' on Comedy Central and later on ABC, ''Real ...
''. In a 2017 ''Guardian'' interview, he said: "I strongly believe that no one should be stereotyped on the basis of their race or religion. It's one of the most fundamental tenets of liberal thought."
Affleck supports the Second Amendment
The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds each ...
, and said in 2012 that he owned several guns, both for skeet shooting and for the protection of his family. In 2020, he said trips to gun ranges as a young adult made him "uncomfortable to remember ... given the subsequent tragedies with young people and guns."
Affleck appeared alongside then-Senator Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
at a 2006 rally in support of Proposition 87
California Proposition 87 was a proposition on the ballot for California voters for the November 7, 2006 general election, officially titled ''Alternative Energy. Research, Production, Incentives. Tax on California Oil Producers.'' It was rejected ...
, which sought to reduce petroleum consumption in favor of alternative energy. He appeared in a global warming awareness video produced by the Center for American Progress Action Fund
The Center for American Progress (CAP) is a public policy research and advocacy organization which presents a liberal viewpoint on economic and social issues. It has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.
The president and chief executive office ...
in 2007. Also that year, Affleck admitted he was not "particularly good at being green" while, in 2014, he named "a 1966 Chevelle" as his guilty pleasure. In 2016, Affleck filmed an endorsement for Rezpect Our Water, an online petition to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Democratic Party activism
Affleck registered to vote as a Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
in 1992, and has campaigned on behalf of several Democratic presidential nominees. He supported Al Gore
Albert Arnold Gore Jr. (born March 31, 1948) is an American politician, businessman, and environmentalist who served as the 45th vice president of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. Gore was the Democratic Part ...
in the final weeks of the 2000 presidential campaign, attending rallies in California, Pennsylvania, and Florida. However, Affleck was unable to vote due to a registration issue in New York, where he was residing at the time, and later joked, "I'm going to vote twice next time, in true Boston fashion."
Affleck was involved in the 2004 presidential campaign of John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party (Unite ...
. During the Democratic National Convention in Boston, he spoke to many delegations, appeared on political discussion shows, and attended fundraising events. Affleck took part in a voter registration public service announcement, and traveled with Kerry during the opening weekend of his Believe in America Tour, making speeches at rallies in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio.
Affleck campaigned for President Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
. He appeared alongside the then-Senator at a 2006 rally, introducing him as "the most galvanizing leader to come out of either party, in my opinion, in at least a decade". He donated to Obama's presidential campaign in 2007, and hosted two fundraisers for the candidate during the 2008 Democratic Primary. Affleck urged voters to "help make history" in a MoveOn.org
MoveOn (formerly known as MoveOn.org) is a progressive public policy advocacy group and political action committee. Formed in 1998 around one of the first massively viral email petitions, MoveOn has since grown into one of the largest grassroot ...
campaign, and made several appearances during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. In the week of the presidential election, he appeared on ''Saturday Night Live'' to jokingly endorse Senator John McCain
John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...
. Affleck did not actively campaign for Obama's reelection in 2012, though he still supported him.
Affleck supported Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...
's 2016 presidential election campaign. He first met Clinton at Camp David in 1998 and, when she was a Senate candidate in 2000, he introduced her at a Cornell University
Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
rally and helped fundraise for her campaign. Affleck pointed to the First Lady's work with children, women and "working families". He supported Obama during the 2008 Democratic Primary, noting that Clinton had "moved toward the center
Center or centre may refer to:
Mathematics
*Center (geometry), the middle of an object
* Center (algebra), used in various contexts
** Center (group theory)
** Center (ring theory)
* Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentrici ...
" during the campaign. Affleck donated to Clinton's campaign fund during the 2016 Democratic Primary
Presidential primaries and caucuses were organized by the Democratic Party to select the 4,051 delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention held July 25–28 and determine the nominee for president in the 2016 United States presidential ...
. During the 2016 presidential election, Affleck recorded a New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
voter public service announcement, and was named by the Clinton campaign as a "Hillblazer" – one of 1,100 individuals who had contributed or raised at least $100,000. OpenSecrets
OpenSecrets is a nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C., that tracks data on campaign finance and lobbying. It was created from a merger of the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP) ...
reported that he raised $149,028.
During the latter stages of the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries, Affleck said during an interview conducted in Spanish: "I like Bernie, I like Biden, I like Warren
A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval A ...
but the thing is that most of all; I don't like Trump." When Biden became the Democratic candidate, he donated to his campaign fund.
In 2002, Affleck donated to Dick Gephardt's Congressional campaign, and appeared in campaign literature for former classmate Marjorie Decker
Marjorie C. Decker is an American politician serving as the State Representative for the 25th Middlesex district in the Massachusetts General Court.
Early life and education
Decker was born and raised in North Cambridge, Massachusetts. She grew ...
, running as a city councillor in Massachusetts. He made donations to the presidential campaigns of both Dennis Kucinich and Wesley Clark
Wesley Kanne Clark (born December 23, 1944) is a retired United States Army officer. He graduated as valedictorian of the class of 1966 at West Point and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford, where he obtained a degree ...
in 2003. In 2005, he donated to the campaign fund of Deval Patrick, a candidate for Governor of Massachusetts. In 2006, Affleck contributed to Cory Booker
Cory Anthony Booker (born April 27, 1969) is an American politician and attorney who has served as the junior United States senator from New Jersey since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, Booker is the first African-American U.S. se ...
's Newark mayoral campaign, and introduced Congressmen Joe Courtney and Chris Murphy
Christopher Scott Murphy (born August 3, 1973) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Connecticut since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States H ...
at rallies in Connecticut. He donated to the 2008 Congressional campaign of Pennsylvania's Patrick Murphy, and to the 2010 Senate campaign of Kirsten Gillibrand
Kirsten Elizabeth Gillibrand (; ; born December 9, 1966) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from New York since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, she served as member of the U.S. House of ...
. Affleck hosted a 2012 fundraiser for Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Ann Warren ( née Herring; born June 22, 1949) is an American politician and former law professor who is the senior United States senator from Massachusetts, serving since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party and regarded as a ...
, endorsed her in a Progressive Change Campaign Committee
The Progressive Change Campaign Committee (PCCC) is an American political action committee (PAC) associated with the progressive movement. The PCCC invests in advocacy campaigns and progressive candidates running for office in the United State ...
video, and made a campaign donation. In 2013, he hosted a fundraiser for Cory Booker, and made donations to the Senate campaigns of both Booker and Alison Lundergan Grimes
Alison Case Lundergan Grimes (born November 23, 1978) is an American lawyer and Democratic politician who was the secretary of state of Kentucky from 2012 until 2020. Grimes was elected in 2011 after defeating incumbent Elaine Walker in the D ...
. He donated to the campaign of Senate candidate Kamala Harris
Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who is the 49th vice president of the United States. She is the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. history, as well ...
in 2015 and the Congressional campaign of Melissa Gilbert
Melissa Ellen Gilbert (born May 8, 1963) is an American actress, television director, producer, politician, and former president of the Screen Actors Guild.
Gilbert began her career as a child actress in the late 1960s, appearing in numerous co ...
in 2016. In 2017, he donated to the Senate reelection campaigns of Elizabeth Warren and Chris Coons
Christopher Andrew Coons (born September 9, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Delaware since 2010. A member of the Democratic Party, Coons served as the county executive of New Castle C ...
, and to Adam Schiff
Adam Bennett Schiff (born June 22, 1960) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who has served as a U.S. representative since 2001. A member of the Democratic Party, he has represented since 2013.
Schiff's district (numbered as the 2 ...
's Congressional campaign. In 2018, he made contributions to the Congressional campaigns of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Sharice Davids
Sharice Lynnette Davids (; born May 22, 1980) is an American attorney, former mixed martial artist, and politician serving as the U.S. representative from since 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, she represents a district that includes mos ...
and Leann Jacobsen, and to Michigan gubernatorial candidate Abdul El-Sayed
Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed (born October 31, 1984) is an American politician, former public health professor, medical doctor, and civil servant. He was a candidate in Michigan's 2018 Democratic gubernatorial primary election, placing second ou ...
. In 2019, Affleck donated to the presidential campaigns funds of both Cory Booker and Kamala Harris, and hosted a fundraiser for Booker. Also in 2019, he contributed to the congressional campaign funds of both Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar.[ In 2020, he spoke at a virtual rally in support of Whitney Williams, a candidate in the 2020 Montana gubernatorial election.
In the early 2000s, Affleck often expressed an interest in running for political office one day,] but since 2007, he has denied any political ambitions and spoken repeatedly about the need for campaign finance reform. In 2005, ''The Washington Post'' reported that Virginia Democrats were trying to persuade Affleck to run as a Senate candidate. His publicist dismissed the rumor. In 2012, political pundits and Democratic strategists including Bob Shrum
Robert M. "Bob" Shrum (born July 21, 1943) is the Director of the Center for the Political Future and the Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics at the University of Southern California, where he is a Professor of the Practice o ...
and Tad Devine
Thomas A. "Tad" Devine (born June 11, 1955) is an American political consultant. Devine was a senior adviser in Al Gore's 2000 and John Kerry's 2004 Presidential campaigns. He was also the chief strategist for Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential ...
speculated that Affleck was considering running for a Massachusetts Senate seat. Affleck denied the rumor, and joked that he "also won't be throwing my hat in the ring to run the U.N.
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...
"
Personal life
Relationship with Jennifer Garner
Affleck was married to actress Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Compa ...
from 2005 to 2018. They began dating in August 2004, having established a friendship on the sets of ''Pearl Harbor'' (2001) and ''Daredevil'' (2003). They were married on June 29, 2005, in a private Turks and Caicos
The Turks and Caicos Islands (abbreviated TCI; and ) are a British Overseas Territory consisting of the larger Caicos Islands and smaller Turks Islands, two groups of tropical islands in the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean and n ...
ceremony. Victor Garber
Victor Joseph Garber (born March 16, 1949) is a Canadian-American actor and singer. Known for his work in film, television, and theatre, he has been nominated for three Gemini Awards, four Tony Awards, and six Primetime Emmy Awards. He has also ...
, who officiated the ceremony, and his partner, Rainer Andreesen, were the only guests. Affleck and Garner have three children together: daughters Violet Anne (born December 2005) and Seraphina Rose Elizabeth (born January 2009), and son Samuel Garner (born February 2012).
They publicly announced their separation in June 2015, with Affleck continuing to live in a guesthouse at the family home until mid-2017. They jointly filed for divorce in April 2017, seeking joint physical and legal custody of their children, and it was finalized in October 2018. In 2020, Affleck described the divorce as "the biggest regret of my life" and "a painful experience, even if you're on the best possible terms and you agree it's the best choice." He also stated that he had never envisioned himself as a divorced person and that he had been reluctant to divorce because of the impact it would have on his children.
While Affleck believes paparazzi attention is "part of the deal" of stardom, he has spoken out against photographs taken at his private residence and paparazzi interest in his children specifically, who he says became the "big money" draw for photographers waiting outside his home. In 2013, Affleck and Garner hosted an event for lawmakers at their home in support of a bill that would protect celebrities' children from harassment by photographers; their six-year-old daughter made a speech about her personal experiences. Garner also testified before the California Assembly Judiciary Committee in support of the bill, which later became law. Despite the legislation, photographers still regularly wait outside their children's school and police assistance is sometimes required. In 2014, Affleck argued in favor of United Kingdom-style legislation that requires media outlets to blur children's faces in published photos. He has said there are "real practical dangers" involved in paparazzi attention, citing Garner's longtime stalker, Steven Burky, who was arrested in December 2009 while trying to blend in with paparazzi outside their daughter's preschool. He was charged with two counts of stalking, to which he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. In March 2010, he was ruled insane, sent to California's state mental hospital, and ordered to stay away from the Affleck-Garner family for 10 years if released.
Relationship with Jennifer Lopez
Affleck first dated Jennifer Lopez from 2002 to 2004. They became friends on the set of ''Gigli'' in December 2001, having previously encountered each other at industry parties. They began a romantic relationship in July 2002 when Lopez filed for divorce from her second husband, Cris Judd
Cristan Lee Judd (born 1968-1970) is an American actor, dancer, and choreographer known for his brief marriage to Jennifer Lopez.
Dance career
At age 21, Judd became interested in dance. Within a year, he switched jobs and began dancing prof ...
. Their relationship was extensively publicized, with tabloids referring to the couple as Bennifer, the first celebrity portmanteau of its kind. They appeared together in the music video for her song "Jenny from the Block
"Jenny from the Block" is a song by American singer Jennifer Lopez, which features American rappers Jadakiss and Styles P, both members of The LOX. It was released by Epic Records on September 26, 2002, as the lead single from her third studio ...
" and the film '' Jersey Girl''. Lopez's album '' This Is Me... Then'' was dedicated to and inspired by Affleck. They became engaged in November 2002 but their planned wedding on September 14, 2003, was postponed with four days' notice because of "excessive media attention". They called off the engagement in January 2004.
Affleck and Lopez remained in occasional contact in the years after their breakup and spoke highly of each other in public. According to Lopez, Affleck's discomfort with the media scrutiny was one reason for their split and, years later, she described it as her "first real heartbreak": "I think different time, different thing, who knows what could've happened but there was a genuine love there."
Both during the relationship and in the months after the break-up, Affleck characterized some of the media commentary as rooted in racism, classism and sexism: "We were thought of as two different kinds of people." In subsequent years, he pushed back against the "curious notion" that he should view the relationship as a mistake, and reflected on the prevailing tabloid culture at the time "where it's about one person and everybody focuses on them." Affleck acknowledged that "there were ways I did contribute to it", citing the "Jenny from the Block" music video and a joint promotional interview for ''Gigli''. He said neither of them "anticipated" the degree of attention they would receive: "I think Jen and I made a mistake in that we fell in love, we were excited and maybe too accessible."
Affleck and Lopez began dating again in April 2021, 20 years after they first met, and announced their second engagement in April 2022. They were married in Las Vegas on July 16, 2022, with Affleck becoming stepfather to Lopez's twins, Max and Emme Muñiz.
Other relationships
Affleck's first major relationship was with short-film director Cheyenne Rothman, whom he started dating in high school and was with for seven years.
Affleck began dating actress Gwyneth Paltrow in October 1997 after meeting at a Miramax dinner, and they later worked together on ''Shakespeare in Love'' (1998). Although they first broke up in January 1999, months later, Paltrow persuaded Affleck to co-star with her in ''Bounce'' (2000) and they soon resumed their relationship. They separated again in October 2000. In 2015, Paltrow said they were friends.
Affleck had a long-distance relationship with New York-based television producer Lindsay Shookus
Lindsay Anne Shookus (born June 18, 1980) is an American television producer. She has been nominated for 10 Emmy Awards, winning four times, for her work on ''Saturday Night Live''.
Early life
Shookus's father, Robert, owned a manufacturers repr ...
from mid-2017 to mid-2018; they briefly dated again in early 2019. Shookus served as the head of ''Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...
''s talent department at the time, a show which Affleck has hosted five times since 2000. Affleck dated Cuban actress Ana de Armas
Ana Celia de Armas Caso (; born 30 April 1988) is a Cuban and Spanish actress. She began her career in Cuba and had a leading role in the romantic drama '' Una rosa de Francia'' (2006). At age 18, she moved to Madrid, Spain, and starred in t ...
, whom he met on the set of '' Deep Water'' in the fall of 2019, from early 2020 to early 2021.
Health
There is a history of addiction and mental illness in Affleck's family. Two of his grandparents were alcoholics. His paternal grandmother, addicted to both alcohol and barbiturates, died by suicide at age 46. His paternal uncle was an addict who died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.[ His aunt was a heroin addict.][ Affleck attended ]Al-Anon
Al-Anon Family Groups, founded in 1951, is an international mutual aid organization for people who have been impacted by another person's alcoholism. In the organization's own words, Al-Anon is a "worldwide fellowship that offers a program of rec ...
support meetings as a child due to his father's addiction issues. His brother is a recovering alcoholic.
Affleck's own drinking became a concern when he was fifteen. His mother sent him to an Outward Bound
Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organizations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt and Kurt Hahn in 1941. Today there are organizations, called schools, in over 35 countries which are att ...
wilderness camp for at-risk teenagers, having first considered a residential recovery program. Affleck became sober in his mid-twenties, stating in a 1998 interview that alcohol was "dangerous" for him. He received residential treatment for addiction in 2001 and maintained his sobriety for a "couple of years" afterward. In subsequent years, he refused to discuss his alcoholism in detail and later described it as a period where he "drank relatively normally".[ "I thought, 'I want to just drink like a normal person. I want to have wine at dinner.' And I was able to for about eight years."][ Affleck gradually began to drink "more and more" and, eventually, was drinking until he "passed out" on a nightly basis.][ Before dating Affleck, when ]Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Anne Garner (born April 17, 1972) is an American actress. Born in Houston, Texas, and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Garner studied theater at Denison University and began acting as an understudy for the Roundabout Theatre Compa ...
was filming '' 13 Going on 30'' (2004), "her director, Gary Winick, suggested she get involved with Al-Anon
Al-Anon Family Groups, founded in 1951, is an international mutual aid organization for people who have been impacted by another person's alcoholism. In the organization's own words, Al-Anon is a "worldwide fellowship that offers a program of rec ...
, a group for people living with addicts." This would prove helpful later on, as she supported Affleck's struggles with alcoholism during their marriage and after they separated. Affleck returned to residential treatment in 2017 and, following a publicly documented relapse and intervention, again in 2018. In late 2019, TMZ
TMZ is a tabloid news website owned by Fox Corporation. It made its debut on November 8, 2005, originally as a collaboration between AOL and Telepictures, a division of Warner Bros., until Time Warner divested AOL in 2009. On September 13, 202 ...
filmed him stumbling on a Los Angeles street; he acknowledged the following day that he had a brief "slip" after over a year of sobriety. He later described the incident as "embarrassing": "I wish it didn't happen. I really wish it wasn't on the internet for my kids to see."[
Affleck has both anxiety and depression,][ and has taken antidepressants since age 26.][ He said he used alcohol to alleviate a constant feeling of "discomfort" and remarked that it "took me a long time to fundamentally, deeply, without a hint of doubt, admit to myself that I am an alcoholic."][ He follows a ]twelve-step program
Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), aided its memb ...
.[ During the press junket for ''The Way Back'' in 2020, Affleck opened up about his addiction but stressed that he felt "vulnerable" and did not intend to "go on talking about this issue forever", saying: "I think the value, if there is value in me talking about being a recovering alcoholic, is that that doesn't have to be who you are. That doesn't have to be the label on your head." While doing interviews for ''The Tender Bar'' (2021), a movie that has similarities to Affleck's own family background, he spoke about the effect of growing up with an often absent, alcoholic father had on him – and how it partly influenced his own decisions and struggles with alcoholism.] According to Affleck, he has managed to stay healthy and sober since early 2020.
Professional gambling
Affleck won the 2004 California State Poker Championship, taking home the first prize of $356,400 and qualifying for the 2004 World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour (WPT) is an internationally televised gaming and entertainment brand. Since 2002, the World Poker Tour has operated a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting playdown and the f ...
final tournament. He was one of many celebrities, along with Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire
Tobias Vincent Maguire (born June 27, 1975) is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing the title character from Sam Raimi's ''Spider-Man'' trilogy (2002–2007), a role he later reprised in '' Spider-Man: No Way Hom ...
, who took part in Molly Bloom
Molly Bloom is a fictional character in the 1922 novel '' Ulysses'' by James Joyce. The wife of main character Leopold Bloom, she roughly corresponds to Penelope in the ''Odyssey''. The major difference between Molly and Penelope is that while P ...
's high-stakes poker games in the mid-2000s. In 2014, Affleck was asked to refrain from playing blackjack at the Hard Rock Hotel
Hard Rock Cafe, Inc. is a British-based multinational chain of theme restaurants, memorabilia shops, casinos and museums founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton in London. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and ro ...
in Las Vegas, after a series of wins aroused suspicion that he was counting cards, which is a legal gambling strategy, though frowned upon by casinos. Affleck has repeatedly denied tabloid reports of a gambling addiction.
Religion
Affleck came from Protestant
Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
ancestors, but his family was not religious. As infants, each of his three children were baptized as members of the United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...
. In 2008, he listed the Gospel of Matthew
The Gospel of Matthew), or simply Matthew. It is most commonly abbreviated as "Matt." is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells how Israel's Messiah, Jesus, comes to his people and for ...
as one of the books that made a difference in his life, and in 2012, he described himself as agnostic. In 2015, Affleck began attending weekly Methodist church services in Los Angeles with his family. When asked about his faith in 2020, Affleck said it "has been a struggle for me": "I don't have a sense of an anthropomorphized guy up there pushing buttons, that seems hard for me, but the twelve-step program
Twelve-step programs are international mutual aid programs supporting recovery from substance addictions, behavioral addictions and compulsions. Developed in the 1930s, the first twelve-step program, Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), aided its memb ...
is faith-based ... Faith has served me well in recovery as an alcoholic."[
]
Ancestry
Much of Affleck's ancestry is English, Irish, Scottish and German. Affleck's said-to-be maternal great-great-grandfather, , who, aged 12, accidentally discovered the Curmsun Disc, emigrated from Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...
in the late 1840s.
Affleck appeared on the PBS genealogy series ''Finding Your Roots
''Finding Your Roots with Henry Louis Gates, Jr.'' is a documentary television series hosted by Henry Louis Gates Jr. that premiered on March 25, 2012, on PBS. In each episode, celebrities are presented with a "book of life" that is compiled with ...
'' in 2014. When told that an ancestor had been a slave owner
The following is a list of slave owners, for which there is a consensus of historical evidence of slave ownership, in alphabetical order by last name.
A
* Adelicia Acklen (1817–1887), at one time the wealthiest woman in Tennessee, she inh ...
in Georgia, Affleck responded: "God. It gives me kind of a sagging feeling to see a biological relationship to that. But, you know, there it is, part of our history ... We tend to separate ourselves from these things by going like, 'It's just dry history, and it's all over now'." Leaked emails from the 2015 Sony email hacking scandal showed that, after filming, Affleck felt uncomfortable about the segment, which was not included in the final broadcast. The show's host, professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. (born September 16, 1950) is an American literary critic, professor, historian, and filmmaker, who serves as the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African A ...
, stated: "We focused on what we felt were the most interesting aspects of his ancestry." An internal investigation by PBS concluded that Affleck had exerted "improper influence" over the editorial process and that the producers of the show, including Gates, had violated PBS standards by improperly withholding information. The show was temporarily postponed, resuming after a fact-checker and an "independent genealogist" were added to the show's staff. Affleck's episode was removed from the show's online archive.
In 2009, the New England Historic Genealogical Society
The New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is the oldest and largest genealogical society in the United States, founded in 1845.
NEHGS provides family history services through its staff, original scholarship, website,[Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...]
.
Me Too allegations
During the Me Too movement
#MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...
in 2017, Affleck was accused by two women of inappropriate behavior. Actress Hilarie Burton
Hilarie Ros Burton (born July 1, 1982) is an American actress, businesswoman, author and producer. A former host of MTV's ''Total Request Live'', she portrayed Peyton Sawyer on The WB/ CW drama '' One Tree Hill'' for six seasons (2003–2009). Po ...
stated that, during an on-air appearance on ''TRL Uncensored'' in 2003, Affleck "wraps his arm around me, and comes over and tweaks my left boob". Affleck responded on Twitter: "I acted inappropriately toward Ms. Burton and I sincerely apologize." Annamarie Tendler
Annamarie Tendler (born June 9, 1985), known professionally as Anna Marie Tendler, is an American multimedia artist known for her work in photography, makeup and hairstyling, and textile crafts, with a notable specialty in handmade lampshades. ...
, a makeup artist, said that Affleck "grabbed my ass at a Golden Globes party in 2014 ... He tried to play it like he was politely moving me out of the way."
In response to the Harvey Weinstein scandal
In October 2017, ''The New York Times'' and ''The New Yorker'' reported that dozens of women had accused film producer Harvey Weinstein of rape, sexual assault and sexual abuse over a period of at least 30 years. Over 80 women in the film in ...
, Affleck pledged to donate any future profits from his early Miramax films to charities supporting victims of sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexual violence, which ...
and said he had only been aware that Weinstein "was sleazy and a bully." In a tweet, actress Rose McGowan
Rósa Arianna "Rose" McGowan (born September 5, 1973) is an American actress. After her film debut in a brief role in the comedy '' Encino Man'' (1992), McGowan achieved wider recognition for her performance in the dark comedy ''The Doom Generat ...
responded: "You lie." She said she met Affleck after being sexually assaulted by Weinstein during the Sundance Film Festival in 1997 and told him, while crying, that she had "just come from Harvey's and he said, 'Goddamnit, I told him to stop doing that.'" In a leaked email regarding McGowan's case, Affleck stated: "I never saw Rose at any hotel in Sundance. She never told me nor did I ever infer that she was attacked by anyone." In a 2019 interview, Affleck said: "I don't really want to get into other people's individual stories because I feel like those are their stories and they're entitled to tell as much or as little of those as they want. I believe Rose. I support her. I really like and admire her tenacity and I wish her the best." In 2020, McGowan clarified her comments: "It's not like I'm raging at Ben Affleck. I never said to him, 'I was just raped.' It's just more to illustrate the point of this continual thing of everybody knowing and everybody being part of it, unwittingly or proactively."[
]
Acting credits and awards
Affleck has appeared in more than 50 films and won many accolades throughout his career as an actor, writer, and director. He first gained recognition as a writer when he won the Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for ''Good Will Hunting'' (1997), which he co-wrote with Matt Damon; Affleck remains the youngest person ever to win a Best Original Screenplay Oscar, at 25 years old. As an actor, he received Golden Globe nominations for his performances in ''Hollywoodland'' (2006) and ''The Tender Bar'' (2021). The film ''Argo'' (2012), which he directed, co-produced, and starred in, won him the Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, BAFTA, and Directors Guild Award for Best Director, as well as the Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
, BAFTA, the Producers Guild Award
The Producers Guild of America Awards were originally established in 1990 by the Producers Guild of America as the Golden Laurel Awards, created by PGA Treasurer Joel Freeman with the support of Guild President Leonard Stern, in order to honor ...
, and the Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) since the awards debuted in 1929. This award goes to the producers of the film and is the only category ...
.
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Affleck, Ben
1972 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Activists from California
American film producers
American humanitarians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male screenwriters
American male television actors
American people of English descent
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Scottish descent
American people of Swedish descent
American philanthropists
American poker players
American political activists
American United Methodists
Best Director BAFTA Award winners
Best Director Golden Globe winners
Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners
Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School alumni
Directors Guild of America Award winners
Film directors from California
Film directors from Massachusetts
Film producers from California
Film producers from Massachusetts
Filmmakers who won the Best Film BAFTA Award
Golden Globe Award-winning producers
Male actors from Berkeley, California
Male actors from Boston
Male actors from California
Male actors from Cambridge, Massachusetts
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
People from Falmouth, Massachusetts
Producers who won the Best Picture Academy Award
Screenwriters from California
Screenwriters from Massachusetts
Television producers from California
Television producers from Massachusetts
Volpi Cup for Best Actor winners
Writers from Berkeley, California
Writers from Boston
Writers from Cambridge, Massachusetts