- Born
- Birth nameBenjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt
- Nickname
- Ben
- Height1.91 m
- Benjamin Géza "Ben" Affleck-Boldt was born on August 15, 1972 in Berkeley, California and raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to mother Chris Anne (Boldt), a school teacher, and father Timothy Byers "Tim" Affleck, a social worker. Ben has a younger brother, actorCasey Affleck,who was born in 1975. He is of mostly English, Irish, German, and Scottish ancestry. His middle name, Géza, is after a Hungarian family friend who was a Holocaust survivor.
Affleck wanted to be an actor ever since he could remember, and his first acting experience was for a Burger King commercial, when he was on the PBS mini-series,The Voyage of the Mimi (1984).It was also at that age when Ben met his lifelong friend and fellow actor,Matt Damon.They played little league together and took drama classes together. Ben's teen years consisted of mainly TV movies and small television appearances includingHands of a Stranger (1987)andThe Second Voyage of the Mimi (1988).He made his big introduction into feature films in 1993 when he was cast inDazed and Confused (1993).After that, he did mostly independent films likeKevin Smith'sMallrats (1995)andChasing Amy (1997)which were great for Ben's career, receiving renowned appreciation for his works at the Sundance film festival. But the success he was having in independent films didn't last much longer and things got a little shaky for Ben. He was living in an apartment with his brother Casey and friend Matt, getting tired of being turned down for the big roles in films and being given the forgettable supporting ones. Since Matt was having the same trouble, they decided to write their own script, where they could call all the shots. So, after finishing the script forGood Will Hunting (1997),they gave it to their agent,Patrick Whitesell,who showed it to a few Hollywood studios, finally being accepted by Castle Rock. It was great news for the two, but Castle Rock wasn't willing to give Ben and Matt the control over the project they were hoping for. It was friendKevin Smithwho took it to the head of Miramax who bought the script giving Ben and Matt the control they wanted and, in December 5, 1997,Good Will Hunting (1997)was released, making the two unknown actors famous. The film was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and won two, including Best Original Screenplay for Ben and Matt. The film marked Ben's breakthrough role, in which he was given for the first time the chance to choose roles instead of having to go through grueling auditions constantly.
Affleck chose such roles in the blockbustersArmageddon (1998),Shakespeare in Love (1998),andPearl Harbor (2001).In the early years of the 2000s, he also starred in the box office hitsChanging Lanes (2002),The Sum of All Fears (2002),andDaredevil (2003),as well as the disappointing comediesGigli (2003)andSurviving Christmas (2004).While the mid 2000s were considered a career downturn for Affleck, he received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance inHollywoodland (2006).In the several years following, he played supporting roles, including in the filmsSmokin' Aces (2006),He's Just Not That Into You (2009),State of Play (2009),andExtract (2009).He ventured into directing in 2007, with the thrillerGone Baby Gone (2007),which starred his brother,Casey Affleck,and was well received. He then directed, co-wrote, and starred inThe Town (2010),which was named to the National Board of Review Top Ten Films of the year. For the political thrillerArgo (2012),which he directed and starred in, Affleck won the Golden Globe Award and BAFTA Award for Best Director, and the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and BAFTA Award for Best Picture (Affleck's second Oscar win).
In 2014, Affleck headlined the book adaptation thrillerGone Girl (2014).He starred as Bruce Wayne/Batman in the superhero filmBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016),Suicide Squad (2016),andJustice League (2017).He reprised the role inZack Snyder's Justice League (2021)and he will next appear as Batman inAquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023)andThe Flash (2023).
Recently he has given praise-worthy performances inThe Way Back (2020)as a recovering alcoholic,The Last Duel (2021)(notably he also co-wrote the script), and a scene-stealing golden globe nominated performance inThe Tender Bar (2021).- IMDb Mini Biography By: [email protected] and Pedro Borges
- SpousesJennifer Lopez(July 16, 2022 - present) (filed for divorce)Jennifer Garner(June 29, 2005 - October 4, 2018) (divorced, 3 children)
- Children
- ParentsChris Anne (Boldt)Timothy Byers Affleck
- RelativesCasey Affleck(Sibling)Atticus Affleck(Niece or Nephew)Indiana Affleck(Niece or Nephew)
- Frequently plays arrogant and ruthless characters
- Opens his films with narration or title cards
- Often works with brotherCasey Affleckand friendMatt Damon
- His films often feature corrupt but well-meaning law enforcement figures
- His films often focus on characters caught in situations out of their depth
- Received a lifetime ban from playing blackjack at Las Vegas' Hard Rock Casino due to his card counting skills.
- Is known for being a very good impressionist. He usually picks one of his costars while filming a movie and studies them. He displays his impressions onThe Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992)almost every time he is a guest. While filming The Sum of All Fears (2002),he chose to study co-starMorgan Freeman.When he showed Morgan his impression on set, it was so accurate Freeman told him, "You ever do that again, I'll kill you".
- He won $356,000 by winning the California State Poker Championships in June 2004 - defeating some of the best poker players in the world in the process.
- He andMatt Damonsold theirGood Will Hunting (1997)script for $600,000.
- His father was at one time a janitor at Harvard University, the inspiration for Will Hunting's job at MIT inGood Will Hunting (1997).
- [on the celebrity women the tabloids falsely link him to] Sometimes it's Britney Spears,and sometimes it'sCarrie Fisher.I can't tell if I have a Lolita complex or an Oedipus complex.
- I feel like fame is wasted on me.
- [on tabloid coverage of his life] It feels like being in a soap opera that you were unwittingly cast in and you have no choice about it. I get to watch my life like everyone else and think. "I can't believe they did that". And, for whatever reason, you become less special for movie audiences. It cheapens the brand if you want to look at it in a really crass sense. But I figure it has to go away at some point. Eventually someone will come along and have a sex tape or someone will play grab-ass with some kids and I'll be off page one.
- [answering a Chris Matthewsquestion about why Hollywood actors sometimes presume to be sophisticated about politics] Everyone's entitled to express their political beliefs. I don't presume to tell anybody who to vote for. I am comfortable telling people what my opinions are. But you have to look also to the media, where you have a vast majority of the loudest and most influential political voices in America media from people who came from the entertainment world. You haveRush Limbaugh,was a radio disc jockey.Bill O'Reillycame fromInside Edition (1988).Michael Moore's a filmmaker.Al Frankenwas onSaturday Night Live (1975).The line is increasingly blurred between news and entertainment. Secondarily, the media's also shoving celebrities down our throats all the time. As a person, I'm much more interested in what an actor has to say about something substantial and important than who they're dating or what clothes they're wearing or some other asinine, insignificant aspect of their life.
- [when asked byChris Matthewswhat he thought about Whoopi Goldberg's remarks at aJohn Kerry fund raiser that resulted in her being fired as a spokesman for SlimFast] I wasn't there. I went to the Los Angeles fund raiser. I wasn't in the one in New York. I think when you have somebody -- you know, if you did a rock concert that was a benefit andThe Who played their music orThe Rolling Stones,you'd expect to get, you know, "Satisfaction" or "My Generation." When you hire Whoopi Goldberg, you're going to get her brand of humor. And I think there is a fine line, and you have to be a little bit mindful. And I, for one, am not going to do any scatological jokes or puns about the president's last name on your show, mostly for that reason. But I also think I expect a different code of behavior maybe from comedians who have made a career with a certain kind of comedy than I do from, oh, say, the Vice President of the United States [referring to Vice President [Dick Cheney,who told Vermont Sen.Patrick Leahyto "Go fuck yourself" on the floor of the Senate], who used this vulgar language, you know, to a senator and was sort of unapologetic about it. So I think the Republicans hitting her [Whoopi] too hard for that is a little bit hypocritical.
- Hypnotic(2023) - $55,000,000
- Deep Water(2022) - $7,000,000
- The Last Duel(2021) - $55,000,000
- Triple Frontier(2019) - $8,000,000
- Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice(2016) - $35,000,000
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