Ben Affleck
Encyclopedia
Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt (born August 15, 1972), better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith
's films such as Mallrats
(1995) and Chasing Amy
(1997). Affleck won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award
for the screenplay for Good Will Hunting
(1997), which he co-wrote with Matt Damon
, and has appeared in lead roles in such popular hits as Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor
(2001), Changing Lanes
(2002), The Sum of All Fears
(2002), Daredevil
(2003), Hollywoodland
(2007) and State of Play
(2009).
Affleck is a critically acclaimed filmmaker. He directed Gone Baby Gone
(2007) and The Town
(2010), playing the lead in the latter. He has worked with his younger brother, actor Casey Affleck
, on several projects, including Good Will Hunting and Gone Baby Gone.
Affleck has been married to Jennifer Garner
since June 2005. They have two daughters, Violet Anne, born December 2005, and Seraphina Rose Elizabeth, born January 2009, and are currently expecting their third child. He dated the actress Gwyneth Paltrow
in 1998. His relationship with actress/singer Jennifer Lopez
attracted worldwide media attention, in which Affleck and Lopez were dubbed "Bennifer". The two broke up in 2004.
Affleck has been actively involved in politics and charitable causes. He and Matt Damon
also founded the production company LivePlanet
.
. His mother, Christine Anne "Chris" ( Boldt), is a school district employee and teacher, and his father, Timothy Byers Affleck, has been, at various times, a drug counselor, social worker, janitor, auto mechanic, bartender, writer, director, and was a former actor with the Theater Company of Boston. Affleck's mother graduated from Harvard University
and was a freedom rider in the 1960s; she teaches in Cambridge Public Schools. His younger brother is actor Casey Affleck
. Affleck has Irish
, Scottish
, English
, and German
ancestry (the surname "Affleck" is Scottish). He was raised in a mostly Episcopal
family. His family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts
, when he was very young and his parents divorced in 1984. At age eight, Affleck met 10-year-old Matt Damon
, who lived two blocks away (Damon is Affleck's tenth cousin, once removed, through a common New England
ancestor). The two would later attend Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
together, although they were in different grades. Affleck attended Occidental College
in Los Angeles, as well as the University of Vermont
, and majored in Middle Eastern affairs.
kids' series The Voyage of the Mimi
, as well as in several movies made for television. Throughout the 1990s, he had roles in Lifestories: Families in Crisis
, as a steroid-abusing athlete, as well as in several films, including 1992's School Ties
(with Damon), the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer
movie (uncredited), 1993's Dazed and Confused
, 1995's Mallrats
, and 1997's Chasing Amy
. Mallrats and Amy marked the beginning of his collaboration with writer/director Kevin Smith
. He had the starring role in Smith's Jersey Girl
and has appeared in every View Askewniverse
-Jersey film Smith has made to date, with the exception of Clerks
.
Affleck came to national attention working with Damon in Good Will Hunting
in 1997, for which they shared writing credit and received the Oscar
for Best Original Screenplay. They also both starred in the film. Good Will Hunting's success transformed Affleck from virtual unknown to being one of the world's best known celebrities. Along with Damon and producers Chris Moore and Sean Bailey, Affleck founded the production company LivePlanet
, through which the four created the documentary series Project Greenlight
, as well as the failed mystery-hybrid series Push, Nevada
, among other projects. Project Greenlight was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program in 2002, 2004 and 2005.
Following Good Will Hunting, Affleck starred in Armageddon (1998) as A. J. Frost, opposite Bruce Willis
. The film generated mixed to negative critical reviews, but was a box office success, earning $553 million worldwide. In 1999, he co-starred with Sandra Bullock
in the romantic comedy Forces of Nature
. In 2001, Affleck collaborated with Armageddon director Michael Bay
in the war film Pearl Harbor
. The film opened to a mixed to negative reception, but was a box office success, earning $449 million worldwide.
In 2002, he was cast as Jack Ryan
, a role previously playe by Alec Baldwin
and then Harrison Ford
, in the fourth film in the Techno-thriller series, The Sum of All Fears
. The movie, which ignored the events of the previous Jack Ryan films, also starred Morgan Freeman
. The Sum of All Fears is based on the book of the same name
by Tom Clancy
. Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post
wrote, Affleck and Freeman "create a believable chemistry". In the same year, Affleck starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson
in the popular thriller Changing Lanes
.
The following year he starred as the lead character Matt Murdock/Daredevil
in Mark Steven Johnson
's film Daredevil
(2003). Affleck said Daredevil was his favorite comic book as a kid, and explained why he took the role by saying "Everybody has that one thing from childhood that they remember and that sticks with them. This story was that for me." He also said "I didn't want someone else to do it, because I was afraid that they would go out and do it different from the comic and screw it up." Roger Ebert
, in review of Daredevil, wrote that both Affleck and co-star Jennifer Garner
, were suitable for their roles. Daredevil grossed over $179 million worldwide.
Despite some critical missteps, his box office successes reportedly earned Affleck an average of $15M per film. However, following Daredevil, Affleck starred in several critically panned box office flops, including Gigli (2003) and Surviving Christmas
(2004), and his career waned.
noir
biopic Hollywoodland
, directed by HBO TV-series veteran Allen Coulter. His performance was well-received; Peter Travers
of Rolling Stone
, reviewing the film, wrote: "The irony is that Affleck's battering at the hands of fame has prepped him beautifully to play Reeves. He knows this character from the inside: the surface charm, the hidden vulnerability, the ache of watching a career become a joke and being helpless to stop it." Claudia Puig of USA Today
wrote that Affleck gives a "strong performance". He was awarded the Volpi Cup
for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival
, won the Supporting Actor of the Year award at the Hollywood Film Festival, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for this performance. Following the success of Hollywoodland, he appeared in the 2007 action film Smokin' Aces
, playing Jack Dupree, a bounty hunter. Smokin' Aces received mixed reviews from critics, and was a box office failure.
However, also in 2007, Affleck made his directorial debut with Gone Baby Gone
, for which he also co-wrote the screenplay — based on the book by Dennis Lehane — about two Boston area detectives investigating a little girl's kidnapping and how it affects their lives. His brother Casey starred in the film. It opened to rave reviews in October 2007. When asked why he decided to direct the film, Affleck said: "Directing a movie was really instructive for me. I think I learned a lot about writing, and a lot about acting, and I learned how all the pieces fit together from the inside. That was really valuable. It was a good thing." The film received critical acclaim. Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly
noted that Affleck "shows excellent instincts" as a director. Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com
wrote, "As a director, Ben Affleck may turn out to be quite good with actors [...] But he may need to work harder at shaping material, and at making his characters emerge as rounded, believable people."
Affleck appeared in Jimmy Kimmel
's 2008 video 'I'm Fucking Ben Affleck'; a response to Kimmel's then girlfriend, Sarah Silverman
's, video 'I'm Fucking Matt Damon'. Many other celebrities appeared in the video including Good Charlotte
's Joel
and Benji Madden
, Macy Gray
, Dominic Monaghan
, Lance Bass
, Josh Groban
, Don Cheadle
, Brad Pitt
, Cameron Diaz
, Robin Williams
, Harrison Ford
, Huey Lewis
, Joan Jett
, Pete Wentz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
, Meat Loaf
, Dicky Barrett
and many more.
, State of Play
, and Extract
. In He's Just Not That into You, a romantic comedy, he was part of an ensemble cast that included Jennifer Aniston
, Drew Barrymore
, Scarlett Johansson
, Justin Long
, and Jennifer Connelly
. The film generated mostly mixed reviews, but was a box office success, earning $165 million worldwide. In State of Play, an adaptation of the British television serial State of Play, Affleck played Congressman Stephen Collins. The film is a political thriller which explores the relationship between politicians and the media. In the comedy film Extract, Affleck played Dean, a bartender, and the best friend to Jason Bateman
's character. His performance in the film was well-received, with Barbara Vancheri of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
reporting that "Affleck is a hoot as a long-haired fount of bad advice and drugs he keeps in a little tin behind the bar. After playing a square-jawed crimefighter, an actor turned Superman and a congressman, he is actually loose and funny."
Affleck directed his second feature, The Town
, an adaptation of Chuck Hogan
's novel Prince of Thieves, that was both a critical and commercial success when it was released in theaters in 2010. Along with directing and co-writing the film, he was part of the cast that includes Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner
, Chris Cooper
and Blake Lively
.
Affleck was awarded the Chairman's Award in the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival
. Commenting on Affleck, Festival Chairman Harold Matzner said,
Affleck will star in an upcoming romantic drama written and directed by Terrence Malick
, alongside Olga Kurylenko
, Javier Bardem
, Rachel McAdams
and Rachel Weisz
. Filming took place in fall 2010 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma
and Pawhuska, Oklahoma
.
Affleck will also be directing his third feature, Argo, for producers George Clooney
and Grant Heslov
. The film tells the story of a CIA operation to save six ambassadors during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis
by faking a production for a large-scale science fiction film.
Following Argo, Affleck was selected to replace David Yates
as the director for Warner Bros.
' upcoming adaptation of Stephen King
's novel, The Stand
.
, cystic fibrosis
, immune deficiency and cancer
all at once, is progressive; children with A-T usually do not live beyond their late teens. Affleck attends benefits and spoke to Congress to advocate for the charity, and in 2007 was the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony of Falls Church High School in Fairfax, Virginia, from which Kindregan was graduating.
In June 2008, he appeared in an ABC News
exclusive report exploring the humanitarian crisis in the Eastern Congo
. Affleck travelled to the African nation and interviewed refugees, warlords, and members of parliament. "I think the more painful something is, the more you want to distance yourself from it," he said. "I think the hard part is actually to let some of that go and to realize that when you see some of these images of people suffering in some way or another, to kind of remember that these are people who are in fact just in different circumstances than you are, but that are kind of dealing with [those circumstances] in a pretty brave and enduring way." In December 2008, he teamed up with the United Nations releasing a short film highlighting the plight of Congolese refugees, and in March 2010, Affleck announced the formation of the Eastern Congo Initiative
, which he founded as "the first U.S. based advocacy and grant-making initiative wholly focused on working with and for the people of eastern Congo."
, Affleck promoted the Democratic
ticket, supporting Al Gore
and repeatedly delivering a get-out-the-vote plea: "It's very important to vote. The president will appoint three or four Supreme Court
justices." During the final week of the race, Affleck – along with Helen Hunt
, Martin Sheen
, Rob Reiner
and other actors – spent an hour at a phone bank calling registered Democrats. "People in my generation have a low voter turnout. One of the reasons that I'm here is to demonstrate that no matter who you are going to vote for ... I think it's important to get involved and get out and vote," he told reporters. "But I'm going to tell people to vote for Gore."
On October 28, 2000, Affleck flew with Hillary Clinton, who was running for a Senate
seat, to Ithaca
, New York, where he introduced her at a Cornell University
rally. He told the college crowd that Clinton had been advocating for women and working families since "Rick Lazio
was running around the frat house in his underwear". Lazio, then a Long Island
congressman, was Clinton's Republican
opponent.
On November 6, 2000, the final day of the campaign, he was one of several high-profile celebrities summoned to Miami Beach
by Miramax Films boss Harvey Weinstein
for a late-night Gore rally, just hours before polls opened nationwide. The Gore campaign's last event, a final effort to energize South Beach
voters, did not end until about 1:00 a.m., but Affleck flew back to New York that morning and made a surprise live appearance on The Rosie O'Donnell Show
. It was 10:15 a.m. when he made his final public pitch from a Rockefeller Center
studio, noting that he was "a little bit tired ... I've been out getting involved, doing stuff and trying to get people to vote. And that's why I came by here". Also, "Today is the get-out-the-vote day and ... I think this is the time to get involved, especially the young folks who are here ... I'm about to go vote," He then said, "I am personally gonna vote for Al Gore".
As votes were tallied that night, Affleck told Salon.com
's Amy Reiter, "I'm nervous this evening, but one of the things that's exciting to me is the number of people who voted. No matter who wins, I think it's a healthy thing for our country that so many voters have come out and participated in the process. Either way, I think the most important number will be the turnout".
In the May 2001 issue of GQ, Affleck said, "My fantasy is that someday I'm independently wealthy enough that I'm not beholden to anybody, so I can run for Congress on the grounds that everyday people should be in government". However, when he was asked about his political ambitions in an April 2009 interview to promote the 2009 film, State of Play
, Affleck said, "I really like my job that I have now. Plus, unlike in Hollywood where you need one director to hire you, in politics you have to have a lot of people to vote for you. I think it's harder work. I really am happy with what I'm doing now. In fact I've never been at a place where I've felt better about going to work everyday. I'm more engaged and very, very happy."
In 2004, Affleck actively campaigned for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry
. During the first day of the 2004 Democratic National Convention
, he was featured on Larry King Live
with Tucker Carlson
and Al Sharpton
. Larry King
asked if he would consider running for office, and Affleck admitted to contemplating the proposition. Specific attention focused on whether he would run for Kerry's open Senate seat (as Affleck was from Massachusetts
). He noted that the line between politics and entertainment is becoming increasingly blurred, as Ronald Reagan
and Arnold Schwarzenegger
both came from the entertainment business.
Affleck supports legalizing gay marriage, saying in 2004, "I don't think the government should be involved in any way in people's bedrooms or lives. With so much hatred and unpleasantness in the world, why would you want to get in the way of people who love each other marrying each other? Anybody who wants to be able to get married to anybody else should be able to. It's not my business." He also appeared in a print advertisement with his openly gay
cousin in support of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. Though supporting the Democratic ticket in 2004, Affleck disagreed with their position on regulation of firearms and increased gun control
.
Despite his opposition to George W. Bush
's policies as president, in an interview with Bill O'Reilly
in July 2004 Affleck said, "I had the pleasure of and the honor of meeting the President of the United States at the Daytona 500. I found him to be a collegial, affable, kind guy." He went on to say Bush "is a patriot and he’s a man who believes in the country. He's trying to further an agenda he believes in. I happen to disagree with most of his policies, but I respect the man."
On December 21, 2010, Ben Affleck appeared on NPR
and criticized CEOs for making so much money. "CEOs' pay shouldn't be 200 times the average worker. It used to be nine times." On November 4, 2010, Affleck was commended for returning a second check for $250,000 that was mistakenly sent to him for appearing at the opening of a casino at the Greenbriar resort.
An avid poker player, Affleck has regularly entered local events. He has been tutored by poker professionals Amir Vahedi
and Annie Duke
, and won the California State Poker Championship on June 20, 2004, taking home the first prize of $356,000, which qualified him for the 2004 World Poker Tour
final tournament. He is a fan of the Boston Red Sox
, New England Patriots
, Boston Celtics
, and Boston Bruins
.
in 1998, following her breakup with actor Brad Pitt
. In 2002, he began dating actress/singer Jennifer Lopez
, whom he had met prior to filming Gigli. The same year, his engagement to Lopez was announced, and the relationship between the two received much attention from the entertainment media, who dubbed the couple "Bennifer". Despite a wedding planned for September 14, the couple broke up in 2004, both blaming the media attention - including an alleged incident in which Affleck partied with Christian Slater
and some lap dancers in Vancouver. The negative publicity and media attention carried over to the 2003 film Gigli, which also was a box office failure.
He subsequently began seeing his Daredevil
co-star, actress Jennifer Garner
, and the two were engaged after nine months of dating. Affleck and Garner were married on June 29, 2005 in Turks and Caicos
, located in the Atlantic Ocean
north of Haiti
and the Dominican Republic
. They have two daughters, Violet Anne, born in December 2005 and Seraphina Rose Elizabeth, born in January 2009. It was announced on August 22, 2011 that the couple is expecting their third child, due in early 2012. They have a vacation home in Savannah, Georgia
.
in 2001, with a spokesman for the actor saying that "Ben is a self-aware and smart man who had decided that a fuller life awaits him without alcohol."
He quit smoking after starring in Smokin' Aces
, in which he was required to smoke heavily, and lost his taste for it after a week of chain-smoking for his role.
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
's films such as Mallrats
Mallrats
Mallrats is a 1995 film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is the second to be set in Smith's View Askewniverse series of interlocking films set mostly in New Jersey, although the movie was filmed in Eden Prairie Center and Osowski's Flea Market which are located in Minnesota...
(1995) and Chasing Amy
Chasing Amy
Chasing Amy is a 1997 romantic comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith. The central tension revolves around sexuality, sexual history, and evolving friendships. It is the third film in Smith's View Askewniverse series....
(1997). Affleck won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for the screenplay for Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, and Stellan Skarsgård...
(1997), which he co-wrote with Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
, and has appeared in lead roles in such popular hits as Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor (film)
Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American action drama war film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay...
(2001), Changing Lanes
Changing Lanes
Changing Lanes is a 2002 drama-thriller film directed by Roger Michell and starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. It was released on April 12, 2002 in North America by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...
(2002), The Sum of All Fears
The Sum of All Fears (film)
The Sum of All Fears is a 2002 American action film/political thriller directed by Phil Alden Robinson and based on the novel The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy...
(2002), Daredevil
Daredevil
Daredevil may refer to:*A stunt performerIn comics and their spin-offs:*Daredevil , a Marvel comic book superhero* Daredevil , a 2003 film starring Ben Affleck as the Marvel character...
(2003), Hollywoodland
Hollywoodland
Hollywoodland is a 2006 American biographical docudrama film directed by Allen Coulter in his feature directorial debut. The film documents a fictional account of the investigation surrounding the death of actor George Reeves , the star of the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman. Adrien...
(2007) and State of Play
State of Play
State of Play is a six-part British television drama serial directed by David Yates and written by Paul Abbott. The serial, first broadcast on BBC One in 2003, was produced in-house by the BBC in association with the independent production company Endor Productions...
(2009).
Affleck is a critically acclaimed filmmaker. He directed Gone Baby Gone
Gone Baby Gone
Gone Baby Gone is a 2007 American crime drama-mystery film directed by Ben Affleck and starring his brother Casey Affleck. The screenplay by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard is based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island...
(2007) and The Town
The Town (2010 film)
The Town is a 2010 crime film starring, co-written, and directed by Ben Affleck adapted from Chuck Hogan's novel Prince of Thieves. The film opened in theaters in the United States on September 17, 2010 at number one with more than $23 million and positive reviews...
(2010), playing the lead in the latter. He has worked with his younger brother, actor Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt , better known as Casey Affleck, is an American actor and film director. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he played supporting roles in mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Ocean's Eleven as well as in critically acclaimed independent films such as...
, on several projects, including Good Will Hunting and Gone Baby Gone.
Affleck has been married to Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Anne Affleck , better known as Jennifer Garner, is an American actress and film producer. Garner gained recognition on television for her performance as CIA agent Sydney Bristow in the thriller drama series Alias, which aired on ABC for five seasons from 2001 to 2006...
since June 2005. They have two daughters, Violet Anne, born December 2005, and Seraphina Rose Elizabeth, born January 2009, and are currently expecting their third child. He dated the actress Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
in 1998. His relationship with actress/singer Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
attracted worldwide media attention, in which Affleck and Lopez were dubbed "Bennifer". The two broke up in 2004.
Affleck has been actively involved in politics and charitable causes. He and Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
also founded the production company LivePlanet
LivePlanet
LivePlanet is a production company that invests in content for television and new media platforms. It was founded in 2000.-History:The company was started by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore and Sean Bailey...
.
Early life
Affleck was born in Berkeley, CaliforniaBerkeley, California
Berkeley is a city on the east shore of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California, United States. Its neighbors to the south are the cities of Oakland and Emeryville. To the north is the city of Albany and the unincorporated community of Kensington...
. His mother, Christine Anne "Chris" ( Boldt), is a school district employee and teacher, and his father, Timothy Byers Affleck, has been, at various times, a drug counselor, social worker, janitor, auto mechanic, bartender, writer, director, and was a former actor with the Theater Company of Boston. Affleck's mother graduated from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
and was a freedom rider in the 1960s; she teaches in Cambridge Public Schools. His younger brother is actor Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck
Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt , better known as Casey Affleck, is an American actor and film director. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, he played supporting roles in mainstream hits like Good Will Hunting and Ocean's Eleven as well as in critically acclaimed independent films such as...
. Affleck has Irish
Irish American
Irish Americans are citizens of the United States who can trace their ancestry to Ireland. A total of 36,278,332 Americans—estimated at 11.9% of the total population—reported Irish ancestry in the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau...
, Scottish
Scottish American
Scottish Americans or Scots Americans are citizens of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in Scotland. Scottish Americans are closely related to Scots-Irish Americans, descendants of Ulster Scots, and communities emphasize and celebrate a common heritage...
, English
English American
English Americans are citizens or residents of the United States whose ancestry originates wholly or partly in England....
, and German
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
ancestry (the surname "Affleck" is Scottish). He was raised in a mostly Episcopal
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
family. His family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, when he was very young and his parents divorced in 1984. At age eight, Affleck met 10-year-old Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
, who lived two blocks away (Damon is Affleck's tenth cousin, once removed, through a common New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
ancestor). The two would later attend Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
Cambridge Rindge and Latin School
The Cambridge Rindge and Latin School is a public high school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States.The school, serving grades 9 through 12, is a part of the Cambridge Public Schools....
together, although they were in different grades. Affleck attended Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
in Los Angeles, as well as the University of Vermont
University of Vermont
The University of Vermont comprises seven undergraduate schools, an honors college, a graduate college, and a college of medicine. The Honors College does not offer its own degrees; students in the Honors College concurrently enroll in one of the university's seven undergraduate colleges or...
, and majored in Middle Eastern affairs.
Early work
Affleck worked as a child actor, appearing on the PBSPublic Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
kids' series The Voyage of the Mimi
The Voyage of the Mimi
The Voyage of the Mimi was a thirteen-episode American educational television program depicting the crew of the Mimi exploring the ocean and taking a census of humpback whales...
, as well as in several movies made for television. Throughout the 1990s, he had roles in Lifestories: Families in Crisis
Lifestories: Families in Crisis
Lifestories: Families in Crisis is an American drama television series that premiered on HBO on August 1, 1992.-The show:Lifestories: Families in Crisis deals with major issues involving individuals, mostly teenagers and young adults. The stories usually ended with the real person on which the...
, as a steroid-abusing athlete, as well as in several films, including 1992's School Ties
School Ties
School Ties is a 1992 film directed by Robert Mandel starring Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris O'Donnell, Cole Hauser, Randall Batinkoff, and Anthony Rapp....
(with Damon), the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)
Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 American action/comedy/horror film about a Valley girl cheerleader named Buffy who learns that it is her fate to hunt vampires. The original script for the film was written by Joss Whedon, who later created the darker and more acclaimed TV series of the same name...
movie (uncredited), 1993's Dazed and Confused
Dazed and Confused
"Dazed and Confused" is a song by Jake Holmes, which was covered by The Yardbirds, and later reworked by Led Zeppelin who hold a separate copyright on the song.-Jake Holmes:...
, 1995's Mallrats
Mallrats
Mallrats is a 1995 film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is the second to be set in Smith's View Askewniverse series of interlocking films set mostly in New Jersey, although the movie was filmed in Eden Prairie Center and Osowski's Flea Market which are located in Minnesota...
, and 1997's Chasing Amy
Chasing Amy
Chasing Amy is a 1997 romantic comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith. The central tension revolves around sexuality, sexual history, and evolving friendships. It is the third film in Smith's View Askewniverse series....
. Mallrats and Amy marked the beginning of his collaboration with writer/director Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith
Kevin Patrick Smith is an American screenwriter, actor, film producer, and director, as well as a popular comic book writer, author, comedian/raconteur, and internet radio personality best recognized by viewers as Silent Bob...
. He had the starring role in Smith's Jersey Girl
Jersey Girl (2004 film)
Jersey Girl is a 2004 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It stars Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Raquel Castro, George Carlin, Jason Biggs, Jennifer Lopez and Will Smith...
and has appeared in every View Askewniverse
View Askewniverse
The View Askewniverse is a fictional universe created by writer/director Kevin Smith, featured in several films, comics and a television series; it is named for Smith's production company, View Askew Productions. The characters Jay and Silent Bob appear in almost all the View Askewniverse media,...
-Jersey film Smith has made to date, with the exception of Clerks
Clerks
Clerks is a 1994 independent comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also appears in the film as Silent Bob. Starring Brian O'Halloran as Dante Hicks and Jeff Anderson as Randal Graves, it presents a day in the lives of two store clerks and their acquaintances...
.
Box office ups and downs
Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, and Stellan Skarsgård...
in 1997, for which they shared writing credit and received the Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Original Screenplay. They also both starred in the film. Good Will Hunting's success transformed Affleck from virtual unknown to being one of the world's best known celebrities. Along with Damon and producers Chris Moore and Sean Bailey, Affleck founded the production company LivePlanet
LivePlanet
LivePlanet is a production company that invests in content for television and new media platforms. It was founded in 2000.-History:The company was started by Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore and Sean Bailey...
, through which the four created the documentary series Project Greenlight
Project Greenlight
Project Greenlight was a contest and 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 Damon, Sean Bailey, and Chris Moore through their production...
, as well as the failed mystery-hybrid series Push, Nevada
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 the ABC network, and ran for 7 episodes before it became one of the first shows to be cancelled during the Fall 2002 season.Created by Ben Affleck and Sean Bailey ,...
, among other projects. Project Greenlight was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program in 2002, 2004 and 2005.
Following Good Will Hunting, Affleck starred in Armageddon (1998) as A. J. Frost, opposite Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
. The film generated mixed to negative critical reviews, but was a box office success, earning $553 million worldwide. In 1999, he co-starred with Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Annette Bullock is an Academy Award winning American actress and producer who rose to fame in the 1990s after roles in successful films such as Demolition Man, Speed, The Net, A Time to Kill, and While You Were Sleeping. She continued with films such as Miss Congeniality, The Lake House,...
in the romantic comedy Forces of Nature
Forces of Nature
Forces of Nature is a 1999 romantic comedy film, directed by Bronwen Hughes, and starring Academy Award winners Ben Affleck, and Sandra Bullock.-Plot:...
. In 2001, Affleck collaborated with Armageddon director Michael Bay
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing high-budget action films characterized by their fast edits, stylistic visuals and substantial practical special effects...
in the war film Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor (film)
Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American action drama war film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay...
. The film opened to a mixed to negative reception, but was a box office success, earning $449 million worldwide.
In 2002, he was cast as Jack Ryan
Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy)
John Patrick "Jack" Ryan, Sr. is a fictional character created by Tom Clancy who appears in many of his novels.-Backstory:Born in 1950, Ryan's background is established in Patriot Games and Red Rabbit. His father was Emmet William Ryan , a police homicide lieutenant in Baltimore, and World War II...
, a role previously playe by Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin
Alexander Rae "Alec" Baldwin III is an American actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television.Baldwin first gained recognition through television for his work in the soap opera Knots Landing in the role of Joshua Rush. He was a cast member for two seasons before his character was killed off...
and then Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
, in the fourth film in the Techno-thriller series, The Sum of All Fears
The Sum of All Fears (film)
The Sum of All Fears is a 2002 American action film/political thriller directed by Phil Alden Robinson and based on the novel The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy...
. The movie, which ignored the events of the previous Jack Ryan films, also starred Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman
Morgan Freeman is an American actor, film director, aviator and narrator. He is noted for his reserved demeanor and authoritative speaking voice. Freeman has received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, The Shawshank Redemption and Invictus and won...
. The Sum of All Fears is based on the book of the same name
The Sum of All Fears
The Sum of All Fears is the best-selling thriller novel by Dan Fogelman and Tom Clancy, and part of the Jack Ryan series. It was the fourth book of the series to be turned into a film. An interesting historical note is that this book was released just days before the Moscow uprising in 1991, which...
by Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
. Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
wrote, Affleck and Freeman "create a believable chemistry". In the same year, Affleck starred opposite Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
in the popular thriller Changing Lanes
Changing Lanes
Changing Lanes is a 2002 drama-thriller film directed by Roger Michell and starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. It was released on April 12, 2002 in North America by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:...
.
The following year he starred as the lead character Matt Murdock/Daredevil
Daredevil (Marvel Comics)
Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood...
in Mark Steven Johnson
Mark Steven Johnson
Mark Steven Johnson is an American film director and writer.Johnson was born in Hastings, Minnesota and attended California State University, Long Beach. He has directed and co-written the two comic book based films Daredevil and Ghost Rider. His early writing credits are for the film Grumpy Old...
's film Daredevil
Daredevil (film)
Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil...
(2003). Affleck said Daredevil was his favorite comic book as a kid, and explained why he took the role by saying "Everybody has that one thing from childhood that they remember and that sticks with them. This story was that for me." He also said "I didn't want someone else to do it, because I was afraid that they would go out and do it different from the comic and screw it up." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
, in review of Daredevil, wrote that both Affleck and co-star Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Anne Affleck , better known as Jennifer Garner, is an American actress and film producer. Garner gained recognition on television for her performance as CIA agent Sydney Bristow in the thriller drama series Alias, which aired on ABC for five seasons from 2001 to 2006...
, were suitable for their roles. Daredevil grossed over $179 million worldwide.
Despite some critical missteps, his box office successes reportedly earned Affleck an average of $15M per film. However, following Daredevil, Affleck starred in several critically panned box office flops, including Gigli (2003) and Surviving Christmas
Surviving Christmas
Surviving Christmas is a 2004 comedy film, directed by Mike Mitchell and starring Ben Affleck. Despite being a Christmas movie, DreamWorks SKG released the movie towards the end of October. This was due to it being advanced from December 2003 to avoid clashing with Affleck's other film, Paycheck....
(2004), and his career waned.
2006-2009
Affleck starred in the critically acclaimed George ReevesGeorge Reeves
George Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman....
noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
biopic Hollywoodland
Hollywoodland
Hollywoodland is a 2006 American biographical docudrama film directed by Allen Coulter in his feature directorial debut. The film documents a fictional account of the investigation surrounding the death of actor George Reeves , the star of the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman. Adrien...
, directed by HBO TV-series veteran Allen Coulter. His performance was well-received; Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Peter Travers is an American film critic, who has written for, in turn, People and Rolling Stone. Travers also hosts a celebrity interview show called Popcorn on ABC News Now and ABCNews.com.-Career:...
of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, reviewing the film, wrote: "The irony is that Affleck's battering at the hands of fame has prepped him beautifully to play Reeves. He knows this character from the inside: the surface charm, the hidden vulnerability, the ache of watching a career become a joke and being helpless to stop it." Claudia Puig of USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
wrote that Affleck gives a "strong performance". He was awarded the Volpi Cup
Volpi Cup
The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year...
for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
, won the Supporting Actor of the Year award at the Hollywood Film Festival, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for this performance. Following the success of Hollywoodland, he appeared in the 2007 action film Smokin' Aces
Smokin' Aces
Smokin' Aces is a 2006 crime film, written and directed by Joe Carnahan. It stars Jeremy Piven as a Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant and Ryan Reynolds as the FBI agent assigned to protect him...
, playing Jack Dupree, a bounty hunter. Smokin' Aces received mixed reviews from critics, and was a box office failure.
However, also in 2007, Affleck made his directorial debut with Gone Baby Gone
Gone Baby Gone
Gone Baby Gone is a 2007 American crime drama-mystery film directed by Ben Affleck and starring his brother Casey Affleck. The screenplay by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard is based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island...
, for which he also co-wrote the screenplay — based on the book by Dennis Lehane — about two Boston area detectives investigating a little girl's kidnapping and how it affects their lives. His brother Casey starred in the film. It opened to rave reviews in October 2007. When asked why he decided to direct the film, Affleck said: "Directing a movie was really instructive for me. I think I learned a lot about writing, and a lot about acting, and I learned how all the pieces fit together from the inside. That was really valuable. It was a good thing." The film received critical acclaim. Lisa Schwarzbaum of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
noted that Affleck "shows excellent instincts" as a director. Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
wrote, "As a director, Ben Affleck may turn out to be quite good with actors [...] But he may need to work harder at shaping material, and at making his characters emerge as rounded, believable people."
Affleck appeared in Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel
James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel is an American television host and comedian. He is the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a late-night talk show that airs on ABC. Prior to that, Kimmel was best known as the co-host of Comedy Central's The Man Show and Win Ben Stein's Money...
's 2008 video 'I'm Fucking Ben Affleck'; a response to Kimmel's then girlfriend, Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....
's, video 'I'm Fucking Matt Damon'. Many other celebrities appeared in the video including Good Charlotte
Good Charlotte
Good Charlotte is an American rock band from Waldorf, Maryland that formed in 1996. Since 1998, the band's constant members have been lead vocalist Joel Madden, lead guitarist and back-up vocalist Benji Madden, bass guitarist Paul Thomas and rhythm guitarist and keyboardist Billy Martin...
's Joel
Joel Madden
Joel Rueben Madden is an American singer, record producer, actor, DJ, and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, best known as the lead vocalist for the pop punk band Good Charlotte.-Early life:...
and Benji Madden
Benji Madden
Benji Madden is an American guitarist and backup vocalist for the band Good Charlotte, which he co-founded with his identical twin brother, Joel Madden.-Early life:...
, Macy Gray
Macy Gray
Macy Gray is a Grammy Award-winning American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, record producer, and actress, famed for her distinctive raspy voice, and a singing style heavily influenced by Billie Holiday and Betty Davis.Gray has released five studio albums, with her fifth studio album, The Sellout,...
, Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Monaghan
Dominic Bernard Patrick Luke Monaghan is an English actor. He has received international attention from playing Merry in Peter Jackson's adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and for his role as Charlie Pace on the television show Lost....
, Lance Bass
Lance Bass
James Lance Bass , best known as Lance Bass, is an American pop singer, dancer, actor, film and television producer, and author. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the bass singer for the American pop boy band 'N Sync. 'N Sync's success led Bass to work in film and television...
, Josh Groban
Josh Groban
Joshua Winslow "Josh" Groban is an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, and record producer. His four solo albums have been certified at least multi-platinum, and in 2007, he was charted as the number-one best selling artist in the United States with over 21 million records in that country...
, Don Cheadle
Don Cheadle
Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...
, Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, Cameron Diaz
Cameron Diaz
Cameron Michelle Diaz is an American actress and former model. She became famous during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding, and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona...
, Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
, Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford
Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. He is famous for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. Ford is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in...
, Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis is an American musician, songwriter and occasional actor.Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many of the band's songs...
, Joan Jett
Joan Jett
Joan Jett is an American rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, producer and actress.She is best known for her work with Joan Jett & the Blackhearts including their hit cover "I Love Rock 'n' Roll", which was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 from March 20 to May 1, 1982, as well as for their other popular...
, Pete Wentz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Christopher Charles Mintz-Plasse is an American actor known for starring in films such as Superbad, Role Models, Year One, and Kick-Ass.-Early life:...
, Meat Loaf
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday , better known by his stage name, Meat Loaf, is an American hard rock musician and actor...
, Dicky Barrett
Dicky Barrett
Richard Michael Barrett , better known as Dicky Barrett, is the frontman of Ska punk band The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and the announcer for Jimmy Kimmel Live...
and many more.
2009-present
In 2009, Affleck returned to acting, starring in three features, He's Just Not That into YouHe's Just Not That into You (film)
He's Just Not That Into You is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Ken Kwapis, based on the self-help book of the same name by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, which in turn was inspired by a line of dialogue in Sex and the City...
, State of Play
State of Play (film)
State of Play is a 2009 French-British-American political thriller film. It is an adaptation of the six-part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2003. The plot of the six-hour serial was condensed to fit a two-hour movie format, with the location changed to...
, and Extract
Extract (film)
Extract is a 2009 American comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. Extract stars Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, Dustin Milligan, J. K. Simmons, and Ben Affleck. Judge also makes an uncredited appearance as 'Jim', a union organizer....
. In He's Just Not That into You, a romantic comedy, he was part of an ensemble cast that included Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
, Drew Barrymore
Drew Barrymore
Drew Blyth Barrymore is an American actress, film director, screenwriter, producer and model. She is a member of the Barrymore family of American actors and granddaughter of John Barrymore. She first appeared in an advertisement when she was 11 months old. Barrymore made her film debut in Altered...
, Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson
Scarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...
, Justin Long
Justin Long
Justin Jacob Long is an American film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Galaxy Quest, Jeepers Creepers, Dodgeball, Live Free or Die Hard, He's Just Not That into You, Drag Me to Hell, and Youth in Revolt, and his personification of a Mac in Apple's "Get a...
, and Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Connelly
Jennifer Lynn Connelly is an American film actress, who began her career as a child model. She appeared in magazine, newspaper and television advertising, before making her motion picture debut in the 1984 crime film Once Upon a Time in America...
. The film generated mostly mixed reviews, but was a box office success, earning $165 million worldwide. In State of Play, an adaptation of the British television serial State of Play, Affleck played Congressman Stephen Collins. The film is a political thriller which explores the relationship between politicians and the media. In the comedy film Extract, Affleck played Dean, a bartender, and the best friend to Jason Bateman
Jason Bateman
Jason Kent Bateman is an American television and film actor. After appearing in several 1980s and 1990s sitcoms including It's Your Move, and The Hogan Family, Bateman came to prominence in the early 2000s for playing Michael Bluth on Arrested Development, for which he won a TV Land, a Golden...
's character. His performance in the film was well-received, with Barbara Vancheri of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, also known simply as the "PG," is the largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.-Early history:...
reporting that "Affleck is a hoot as a long-haired fount of bad advice and drugs he keeps in a little tin behind the bar. After playing a square-jawed crimefighter, an actor turned Superman and a congressman, he is actually loose and funny."
Affleck directed his second feature, The Town
The Town (2010 film)
The Town is a 2010 crime film starring, co-written, and directed by Ben Affleck adapted from Chuck Hogan's novel Prince of Thieves. The film opened in theaters in the United States on September 17, 2010 at number one with more than $23 million and positive reviews...
, an adaptation of Chuck Hogan
Chuck Hogan
Chuck Hogan is an American author. He is the author of Prince of Thieves: A Novel, a work upon which Ben Affleck's Academy Award-nominated film The Town is based on. The work won the 2005 Hammett Prize and was called one of the ten best novels of the year by Stephen King...
's novel Prince of Thieves, that was both a critical and commercial success when it was released in theaters in 2010. Along with directing and co-writing the film, he was part of the cast that includes Jon Hamm, Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Renner
Jeremy Lee Renner is a two-time Academy-Award-nominated American actor and musician. Renner appeared in films throughout the 2000s, mostly in supporting roles. He came to prominence in films such as Dahmer , S.W.A.T. , Neo Ned , 28 Weeks Later and The Hurt Locker...
, Chris Cooper
Chris Cooper (actor)
Christopher W. "Chris" Cooper is an American film actor. He became well known in the late 1990s. He has appeared in supporting performances in several major Hollywood films, including The Bourne Identity, American Beauty, Capote, The Town, The Kingdom, Syriana, October Sky, Seabiscuit, and...
and Blake Lively
Blake Lively
Blake Christina Lively is an American actress and model who stars as Serena van der Woodsen in the television teen drama series Gossip Girl...
.
Affleck was awarded the Chairman's Award in the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival
Palm Springs International Film Festival is a film festival held in Palm Springs, California. It was started in 1989 and is held annually in January...
. Commenting on Affleck, Festival Chairman Harold Matzner said,
Affleck will star in an upcoming romantic drama written and directed by Terrence Malick
Terrence Malick
Terrence Frederick Malick is a U.S. film director, screenwriter, and producer. In a career spanning almost four decades, Malick has directed five feature films....
, alongside Olga Kurylenko
Olga Kurylenko
Olha Kostyantynivna Kurylenko , better known as Olga Kurylenko, is a French actress and model. She is perhaps best known as the Bond girl, Camille Montes, in the 22nd James Bond film, Quantum of Solace. She also portrayed Nika Boronina in the movie adaptation of the video game Hitman...
, Javier Bardem
Javier Bardem
Javier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...
, Rachel McAdams
Rachel McAdams
Rachel Anne McAdams is a Canadian actress. After graduating from a theatre program at York University, Toronto in 2001, she worked steadily as an actress until finding fame in 2004 with starring roles in teen comedy Mean Girls and romantic drama The Notebook...
and Rachel Weisz
Rachel Weisz
Rachel Hannah Weisz born 7 March 1970)is an English-American film and theatre actress and former fashion model. She started her acting career at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, where she co-founded the theatrical group Cambridge Talking Tongues...
. Filming took place in fall 2010 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville, Oklahoma
Bartlesville is a city in Osage and Washington counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 43,070 at the 2010 census. Bartlesville is located forty-seven miles north of Tulsa and very close to Oklahoma's northern border with Kansas. It is the county seat of Washington County, in...
and Pawhuska, Oklahoma
Pawhuska, Oklahoma
Pawhuska is a city in and the county seat of Osage County, Oklahoma, United States, and the capital of the Osage Nation. The population was 3,589 at the 2010 census, a decline of 1.2 percent from 3,629 at the 2000 census. The ZIP Code for the city is 74056...
.
Affleck will also be directing his third feature, Argo, for producers George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
and Grant Heslov
Grant Heslov
Grant Heslov is an American actor, film producer, screenwriter and director.-Early life:Heslov was born in Los Angeles, into a Jewish family and was raised in the Palos Verdes area of Los Angeles. He attended Palos Verdes High School, the University of Southern California along with friend Tate...
. The film tells the story of a CIA operation to save six ambassadors during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis
Iran hostage crisis
The Iran hostage crisis was a diplomatic crisis between Iran and the United States where 52 Americans were held hostage for 444 days from November 4, 1979 to January 20, 1981, after a group of Islamist students and militants took over the American Embassy in Tehran in support of the Iranian...
by faking a production for a large-scale science fiction film.
Following Argo, Affleck was selected to replace David Yates
David Yates
David Yates is an English filmmaker who rose to mainstream prominence directing the final four films in the Harry Potter film series. He helmed the series' fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth installments, all of which became an instant blockbuster success and made him the most commercially...
as the director for Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
' upcoming adaptation of Stephen King
Stephen King
Stephen Edwin King is an American author of contemporary horror, suspense, science fiction and fantasy fiction. His books have sold more than 350 million copies and have been adapted into a number of feature films, television movies and comic books...
's novel, The Stand
The Stand
The Stand is a post-apocalyptic horror/fantasy novel by American author Stephen King. It demonstrates the scenario in his earlier short story, Night Surf...
.
Charitable and humanitarian projects
Affleck's support of the non-profit charitable organization, the A-T Children's Project, began while he was filming Forces of Nature. Affleck met a then nine-year-old child, Joe Kindregan, who has the rare disease ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). The disease, described as like having muscular dystrophyMuscular dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy is a group of muscle diseases that weaken the musculoskeletal system and hamper locomotion. Muscular dystrophies are characterized by progressive skeletal muscle weakness, defects in muscle proteins, and the death of muscle cells and tissue.In the 1860s, descriptions of boys who...
, cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis
Cystic fibrosis is a recessive genetic disease affecting most critically the lungs, and also the pancreas, liver, and intestine...
, immune deficiency and cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
all at once, is progressive; children with A-T usually do not live beyond their late teens. Affleck attends benefits and spoke to Congress to advocate for the charity, and in 2007 was the keynote speaker at the graduation ceremony of Falls Church High School in Fairfax, Virginia, from which Kindregan was graduating.
In June 2008, he appeared in an ABC News
ABC News
ABC News is the news gathering and broadcasting division of American broadcast television network ABC, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company...
exclusive report exploring the humanitarian crisis in the Eastern Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a state located in Central Africa. It is the second largest country in Africa by area and the eleventh largest in the world...
. Affleck travelled to the African nation and interviewed refugees, warlords, and members of parliament. "I think the more painful something is, the more you want to distance yourself from it," he said. "I think the hard part is actually to let some of that go and to realize that when you see some of these images of people suffering in some way or another, to kind of remember that these are people who are in fact just in different circumstances than you are, but that are kind of dealing with [those circumstances] in a pretty brave and enduring way." In December 2008, he teamed up with the United Nations releasing a short film highlighting the plight of Congolese refugees, and in March 2010, Affleck announced the formation of the Eastern Congo Initiative
Eastern Congo Initiative
The Eastern Congo Initiative is an American nonprofit organization established by Ben Affleck in 2010 as "the first U.S. based advocacy and grant-making initiative wholly focused on working with and for the people of eastern Congo"...
, which he founded as "the first U.S. based advocacy and grant-making initiative wholly focused on working with and for the people of eastern Congo."
Political activism
In the final weeks of the 2000 Presidential campaignUnited States presidential election, 2000
The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President....
, Affleck promoted the Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
ticket, supporting Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
and repeatedly delivering a get-out-the-vote plea: "It's very important to vote. The president will appoint three or four Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
justices." During the final week of the race, Affleck – along with Helen Hunt
Helen Hunt
Helen Elizabeth Hunt is an American actress, film director, and screenwriter. She starred in the sitcom Mad About You for seven years, before being cast in the romantic comedy As Good as It Gets...
, Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen
Ramón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
, Rob Reiner
Rob Reiner
Robert "Rob" Reiner is an American actor, director, producer, writer, and political activist.As an actor, Reiner first came to national prominence as Archie and Edith Bunker's son-in-law, Michael "Meathead" Stivic, on All in the Family. That role earned him two Emmy Awards during the 1970s...
and other actors – spent an hour at a phone bank calling registered Democrats. "People in my generation have a low voter turnout. One of the reasons that I'm here is to demonstrate that no matter who you are going to vote for ... I think it's important to get involved and get out and vote," he told reporters. "But I'm going to tell people to vote for Gore."
On October 28, 2000, Affleck flew with Hillary Clinton, who was running for a Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
seat, to Ithaca
Ithaca
Ithaca or Ithaka is an island located in the Ionian Sea, in Greece, with an area of and a little more than three thousand inhabitants. It is also a separate regional unit of the Ionian Islands region, and the only municipality of the regional unit. It lies off the northeast coast of Kefalonia and...
, New York, where he introduced her at a Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
rally. He told the college crowd that Clinton had been advocating for women and working families since "Rick Lazio
Rick Lazio
Enrico Anthony "Rick" Lazio is a former U.S. Representative from the state of New York. Lazio became well known nationally when he ran against Hillary Rodham Clinton for the U.S. Senate in New York's 2000 Senate election...
was running around the frat house in his underwear". Lazio, then a Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
congressman, was Clinton's Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
opponent.
On November 6, 2000, the final day of the campaign, he was one of several high-profile celebrities summoned to Miami Beach
Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter which separates the Beach from Miami city proper...
by Miramax Films boss Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein, CBE is an American film producer and movie studio chairman. He is best known as co-founder of Miramax Films. He and his brother Bob have been co-chairmen of The Weinstein Company, their film production company, since 2005...
for a late-night Gore rally, just hours before polls opened nationwide. The Gore campaign's last event, a final effort to energize South Beach
South Beach
South Beach, also nicknamed SoBe, is a neighborhood in the city of Miami Beach, Florida, United States. It is the area south of Indian Creek and encompasses roughly the southernmost 23 blocks of the main barrier island that separates the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay.This area was the first...
voters, did not end until about 1:00 a.m., but Affleck flew back to New York that morning and made a surprise live appearance on The Rosie O'Donnell Show
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
The Rosie O'Donnell Show is an Emmy Award-winning American daytime television talk show hosted and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It aired for six seasons from 1996 to 2002...
. It was 10:15 a.m. when he made his final public pitch from a Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
studio, noting that he was "a little bit tired ... I've been out getting involved, doing stuff and trying to get people to vote. And that's why I came by here". Also, "Today is the get-out-the-vote day and ... I think this is the time to get involved, especially the young folks who are here ... I'm about to go vote," He then said, "I am personally gonna vote for Al Gore".
As votes were tallied that night, Affleck told Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
's Amy Reiter, "I'm nervous this evening, but one of the things that's exciting to me is the number of people who voted. No matter who wins, I think it's a healthy thing for our country that so many voters have come out and participated in the process. Either way, I think the most important number will be the turnout".
In the May 2001 issue of GQ, Affleck said, "My fantasy is that someday I'm independently wealthy enough that I'm not beholden to anybody, so I can run for Congress on the grounds that everyday people should be in government". However, when he was asked about his political ambitions in an April 2009 interview to promote the 2009 film, State of Play
State of Play (film)
State of Play is a 2009 French-British-American political thriller film. It is an adaptation of the six-part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2003. The plot of the six-hour serial was condensed to fit a two-hour movie format, with the location changed to...
, Affleck said, "I really like my job that I have now. Plus, unlike in Hollywood where you need one director to hire you, in politics you have to have a lot of people to vote for you. I think it's harder work. I really am happy with what I'm doing now. In fact I've never been at a place where I've felt better about going to work everyday. I'm more engaged and very, very happy."
In 2004, Affleck actively campaigned for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry
John Kerry
John Forbes Kerry is the senior United States Senator from Massachusetts, the 10th most senior U.S. Senator and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He was the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party in the 2004 presidential election, but lost to former President George W...
. During the first day of the 2004 Democratic National Convention
2004 Democratic National Convention
The 2004 Democratic National Convention convened from July 26 to July 29, 2004 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts, and nominated John Kerry and John Edwards as the official candidates of the Democratic Party for President and Vice President of the United States, respectively, in the 2004...
, he was featured on Larry King Live
Larry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
with Tucker Carlson
Tucker Carlson
Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson is an American political news correspondent and conservative commentator for the Fox News Channel...
and Al Sharpton
Al Sharpton
Alfred Charles "Al" Sharpton, Jr. is an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist, and television/radio talk show host. In 2004, he was a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the U.S. presidential election...
. Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
asked if he would consider running for office, and Affleck admitted to contemplating the proposition. Specific attention focused on whether he would run for Kerry's open Senate seat (as Affleck was from Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
). He noted that the line between politics and entertainment is becoming increasingly blurred, as Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
and Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
both came from the entertainment business.
Affleck supports legalizing gay marriage, saying in 2004, "I don't think the government should be involved in any way in people's bedrooms or lives. With so much hatred and unpleasantness in the world, why would you want to get in the way of people who love each other marrying each other? Anybody who wants to be able to get married to anybody else should be able to. It's not my business." He also appeared in a print advertisement with his openly gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
cousin in support of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. Though supporting the Democratic ticket in 2004, Affleck disagreed with their position on regulation of firearms and increased gun control
Gun control
Gun control is any law, policy, practice, or proposal designed to restrict or limit the possession, production, importation, shipment, sale, and/or use of guns or other firearms by private citizens...
.
Despite his opposition to George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
's policies as president, in an interview with Bill O'Reilly
Bill O'Reilly (commentator)
William James "Bill" O'Reilly, Jr. is an American television host, author, syndicated columnist and political commentator. He is the host of the political commentary program The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, which is the most watched cable news television program on American television...
in July 2004 Affleck said, "I had the pleasure of and the honor of meeting the President of the United States at the Daytona 500. I found him to be a collegial, affable, kind guy." He went on to say Bush "is a patriot and he’s a man who believes in the country. He's trying to further an agenda he believes in. I happen to disagree with most of his policies, but I respect the man."
On December 21, 2010, Ben Affleck appeared on NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
and criticized CEOs for making so much money. "CEOs' pay shouldn't be 200 times the average worker. It used to be nine times." On November 4, 2010, Affleck was commended for returning a second check for $250,000 that was mistakenly sent to him for appearing at the opening of a casino at the Greenbriar resort.
Personal life
Affleck has described himself as a lapsed Protestant.Amir Vahedi
Amir Vahedi was an Iranian professional poker player born in Tehran, Iran. who won a World Series of Poker bracelet at the 2003 World Series of Poker in the $1,500 No Limit Hold'em event....
and Annie Duke
Annie Duke
Annie Duke is a professional poker player and author who won a bracelet in the 2004 World Series of Poker $2,000 Omaha Hi-Low Split-8 or Better Event and was the winner of the 2004 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, where she earned the Winner-Take-All prize of $2,000,000...
, and won the California State Poker Championship on June 20, 2004, taking home the first prize of $356,000, which qualified him for the 2004 World Poker Tour
World Poker Tour
The World Poker Tour is a series of international poker tournaments and associated television series broadcasting the final table of each tournament. It was started in the United States by attorney/television producer Steven Lipscomb, who served as CEO of WPT Enterprises , the firm that...
final tournament. He is a fan of the Boston Red Sox
Boston Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are a professional baseball team based in Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of Major League Baseball’s American League Eastern Division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight charter franchises, the Red Sox's home ballpark has been Fenway Park since . The "Red Sox"...
, New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
, Boston Celtics
Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics are a National Basketball Association team based in Boston, Massachusetts. They play in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference. Founded in 1946, the team is currently owned by Boston Basketball Partners LLC. The Celtics play their home games at the TD Garden, which...
, and Boston Bruins
Boston Bruins
The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League . The team has been in existence since 1924, and is the league's third-oldest team and its oldest in the...
.
Family and relationships
Affleck had a high-profile romance with actress Gwyneth PaltrowGwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma...
in 1998, following her breakup with actor Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
. In 2002, he began dating actress/singer Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lopez
Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller...
, whom he had met prior to filming Gigli. The same year, his engagement to Lopez was announced, and the relationship between the two received much attention from the entertainment media, who dubbed the couple "Bennifer". Despite a wedding planned for September 14, the couple broke up in 2004, both blaming the media attention - including an alleged incident in which Affleck partied with Christian Slater
Christian Slater
Christian Michael Leonard Slater is an American actor. He made his film debut with a small role in The Postman Always Rings Twice before playing a leading role in the 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean...
and some lap dancers in Vancouver. The negative publicity and media attention carried over to the 2003 film Gigli, which also was a box office failure.
He subsequently began seeing his Daredevil
Daredevil (film)
Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil...
co-star, actress Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Garner
Jennifer Anne Affleck , better known as Jennifer Garner, is an American actress and film producer. Garner gained recognition on television for her performance as CIA agent Sydney Bristow in the thriller drama series Alias, which aired on ABC for five seasons from 2001 to 2006...
, and the two were engaged after nine months of dating. Affleck and Garner were married on June 29, 2005 in Turks and Caicos
Turks and Caicos Islands
The Turks and Caicos Islands are a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union consisting of two groups of tropical islands in the Caribbean, the larger Caicos Islands and the smaller Turks Islands, known for tourism and as an offshore financial centre.The Turks and...
, located in the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
north of Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
and the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
. They have two daughters, Violet Anne, born in December 2005 and Seraphina Rose Elizabeth, born in January 2009. It was announced on August 22, 2011 that the couple is expecting their third child, due in early 2012. They have a vacation home in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
.
Quitting alcohol and smoking
Affleck entered alcohol rehabDrug rehabilitation
Drug rehabilitation is a term for the processes of medical or psychotherapeutic treatment, for dependency on psychoactive substances such as alcohol, prescription drugs, and so-called street drugs such as cocaine, heroin or amphetamines...
in 2001, with a spokesman for the actor saying that "Ben is a self-aware and smart man who had decided that a fuller life awaits him without alcohol."
He quit smoking after starring in Smokin' Aces
Smokin' Aces
Smokin' Aces is a 2006 crime film, written and directed by Joe Carnahan. It stars Jeremy Piven as a Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant and Ryan Reynolds as the FBI agent assigned to protect him...
, in which he was required to smoke heavily, and lost his taste for it after a week of chain-smoking for his role.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | Kid in the street | ||
| 1984 | C.T. Granville | TV series | |
| 1987 | Hands of a Stranger | Billy Hearn | TV movie |
| 1988 | C.T. Granville | TV series | |
| 1991 | Almost Home Almost Home (Canadian TV series) Almost Home is an educational television show which was produced and broadcast by TVOntario in 1972 or 1973.-Episodes:... |
Kevin Johnson | TV series |
| Daddy Daddy (1991 film) Daddy, also known as Danielle Steel's Daddy, is a 1991 television film directed by Michael Miller. The film is based upon the 1989 novel of the same name written by Danielle Steel.- Plot :... |
Ben Watson | TV movie | |
| 1992 | School Ties School Ties School Ties is a 1992 film directed by Robert Mandel starring Brendan Fraser, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris O'Donnell, Cole Hauser, Randall Batinkoff, and Anthony Rapp.... |
Chesty Smith | |
| Buffy the Vampire Slayer Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film) Buffy the Vampire Slayer is a 1992 American action/comedy/horror film about a Valley girl cheerleader named Buffy who learns that it is her fate to hunt vampires. The original script for the film was written by Joss Whedon, who later created the darker and more acclaimed TV series of the same name... |
Player 10 | ||
| 1993 | Dazed and Confused Dazed and Confused "Dazed and Confused" is a song by Jake Holmes, which was covered by The Yardbirds, and later reworked by Led Zeppelin who hold a separate copyright on the song.-Jake Holmes:... |
Fred O'Bannion | |
| Against the Grain | Joe Willie Clemons | TV series; 8 episodes | |
| 1995 | Mallrats Mallrats Mallrats is a 1995 film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It is the second to be set in Smith's View Askewniverse series of interlocking films set mostly in New Jersey, although the movie was filmed in Eden Prairie Center and Osowski's Flea Market which are located in Minnesota... |
Shannon Hamilton | |
| 1996 | Glory Daze Glory Daze Glory Daze is an independent film starring Ben Affleck, Sam Rockwell, French Stewart and Alyssa Milano. It had a limited release in 1996.- Plot :... |
Jack | |
| 1997 | Good Will Hunting Good Will Hunting Good Will Hunting is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, and Stellan Skarsgård... |
Chuckie Sullivan | Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) Academy Award for Best Writing (Original Screenplay) The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best script not based upon previously published material. Before 1940, there was an Academy Award for Best Story for writing. For 1940, it and the award in this article were separated into two awards. Beginning with the... shared with Matt Damon Matt Damon Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck... Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay The Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."†" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "‡" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "§" indicates a Golden Globe Award... shared with Matt Damon Matt Damon Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck... Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |
| Chasing Amy Chasing Amy Chasing Amy is a 1997 romantic comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith. The central tension revolves around sexuality, sexual history, and evolving friendships. It is the third film in Smith's View Askewniverse series.... |
Holden McNeil | ||
| Going All the Way Going All the Way Going All the Way is a 1997 film directed by Mark Pellington. The film was written by Dan Wakefield, based on his 1970 novel. It won an award at the Sundance Film Festival.-Plot:... |
Tom "Gunner" Casselman | ||
| 1998 | Shakespeare in Love Shakespeare in Love Shakespeare in Love is a 1998 British-American comedy film directed by John Madden and written by Marc Norman and playwright Tom Stoppard.... |
Ned Alleyn Edward Alleyn Edward Alleyn was an English actor who was a major figure of the Elizabethan theatre and founder of Dulwich College and Alleyn's School.-Early life:... |
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated—American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture American Comedy Awards The American Comedy Awards were a group of awards presented annually in the United States from 1987 to 2001 recognizing performances and performers in the field of comedy, with an emphasis on television comedy and comedy films... |
| Armageddon | A. J. Frost | Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Performance - Male Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best On-Screen Duo. It was later changed to Best On-Screen Team in 2001. This award was last given out in 2006.-References:... shared with Liv Tyler Liv Tyler Liv Rundgren Tyler is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, and Bebe Buell, model and singer. Tyler began a career in modeling at the age of 14, but after less than a year she decided to focus on acting. She made her film debut in the 1994... Nominated—Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple shared with Liv Tyler |
|
| Phantoms Phantoms (film) Phantoms is a 1998 American horror film adapted from the 1983 novel Phantoms by Dean Koontz. Joe Chappelle directed the film, and Koontz wrote the screenplay. The film takes place in the peaceful town of Snowfield, Colorado, where something evil has wiped out the community... |
Sheriff Bryce Hammond | ||
| 1999 | Dogma Dogma (film) Dogma is a 1999 American adventure fantasy comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, who also stars in the film along with an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Bud Cort, Salma Hayek, Chris Rock, Jason Lee, George Carlin, Janeane Garofalo,... |
Bartleby | |
| Forces of Nature Forces of Nature Forces of Nature is a 1999 romantic comedy film, directed by Bronwen Hughes, and starring Academy Award winners Ben Affleck, and Sandra Bullock.-Plot:... |
Ben Holmes | ||
| 200 Cigarettes 200 Cigarettes 200 Cigarettes is a 1999 comedy-drama film starring Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Dave Chappelle, Guillermo Díaz, Angela Featherstone, Janeane Garofalo, Gaby Hoffman, Kate Hudson, Courtney Love, Jay Mohr, Martha Plimpton, Christina Ricci and Paul Rudd. The film also features paintings by Sally... |
Bartender | ||
| 2000 | Bounce Bounce (film) Bounce is a 2000 romantic drama film starring Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow and directed by Don Roos.-Plot:Advertising executive Buddy has just signed an airline in Chicago as a big client but is later delayed by a snow storm waiting for a flight to Los Angeles on the same airline... |
Buddy Amaral | Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss This is a following list for the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Kiss.This is a following list for the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Kiss.... shared with Gwyneth Paltrow Gwyneth Paltrow Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress and singer. She made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. After appearing in several films throughout the decade, Paltrow gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en and Emma... |
| Reindeer Games Reindeer Games Reindeer Games is a 2000 American film, directed by John Frankenheimer and starring Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, and Charlize Theron. It was Frankenheimer's final theatrically released film and received poor reviews.-Plot:... |
Rudy Duncan | ||
| Boiler Room Boiler Room (film) Boiler Room is a 2000 American drama film written and directed by Ben Younger, and starring Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Nia Long, Ben Affleck, Nicky Katt, Scott Caan, Tom Everett Scott, Ron Rifkin and Jamie Kennedy.... |
Jim Young | ||
| Joseph: King of Dreams Joseph: King of Dreams Joseph: King of Dreams is a 2000 American animated musical film and the first direct-to-video release from DreamWorks Animation. The film is an adaptation of the story of Joseph from the Book of Genesis in the Bible and also serves as a prequel to the 1998 film The Prince of Egypt.- Plot :Joseph is... |
Joseph | Voice | |
| 2001 | Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back is a 2001 American action adventure comedy film written, directed by, and starring Kevin Smith as Silent Bob, the fifth to be set in his View Askewniverse, a growing collection of characters and settings that developed out of his cult favorite Clerks... |
Holden McNeil/Himself | |
| Daddy and Them Daddy and Them Daddy and Them is a 2001 American film written and directed by Billy Bob Thornton.Jim Varney died before the movie's release. It was the last movie he appeared in.-Plot:... |
Lawrence Bowen | ||
| Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor (film) Pearl Harbor is a 2001 American action drama war film directed by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Randall Wallace, who wrote the screenplay... |
Captain Rafe McCawley | Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple shared with Kate Beckinsale Kate Beckinsale Kathryn Bailey "Kate" Beckinsale is an English actress. After some minor television roles, she made her film debut in Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University... and Josh Hartnett Josh Hartnett Joshua Daniel "Josh" Hartnett is an American actor and aspiring producer. He first came to audiences' attention in 1997 as "Michael Fitzgerald" in the television series Cracker. He made his feature film debut in 1998, co-starring with Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later for Miramax... Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor |
|
| 2002 | Jack Ryan Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy) John Patrick "Jack" Ryan, Sr. is a fictional character created by Tom Clancy who appears in many of his novels.-Backstory:Born in 1950, Ryan's background is established in Patriot Games and Red Rabbit. His father was Emmet William Ryan , a police homicide lieutenant in Baltimore, and World War II... |
||
| Changing Lanes Changing Lanes Changing Lanes is a 2002 drama-thriller film directed by Roger Michell and starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. It was released on April 12, 2002 in North America by Paramount Pictures.-Plot:... |
Gavin Banek | ||
| The Third Wheel | Michael | ||
| 2003 | Daredevil Daredevil (film) Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil... |
Matt Murdock/Daredevil Daredevil (Marvel Comics) Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood... |
Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor also for Gigli Gigli Gigli is a 2003 romantic comedy film written and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan.... and Paycheck Paycheck Paycheck can also refer to:* Paycheck , short story by science fiction author Philip K. Dick* Paycheck , film adaptation of the Philip K. Dick short story starring Ben Affleck... Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss This is a following list for the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Kiss.This is a following list for the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Kiss.... shared with Jennifer Garner Jennifer Garner Jennifer Anne Affleck , better known as Jennifer Garner, is an American actress and film producer. Garner gained recognition on television for her performance as CIA agent Sydney Bristow in the thriller drama series Alias, which aired on ABC for five seasons from 2001 to 2006... |
| Gigli Gigli Gigli is a 2003 romantic comedy film written and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan.... |
Larry Gigli | Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor also for Daredevil Daredevil (film) Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil... and Paycheck Paycheck Paycheck can also refer to:* Paycheck , short story by science fiction author Philip K. Dick* Paycheck , film adaptation of the Philip K. Dick short story starring Ben Affleck... Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple shared with Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller... |
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| Paycheck Paycheck (film) Paycheck is a 2003 film adaptation of the short story of the same name by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. The film was directed by John Woo and stars Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman and Aaron Eckhart... |
Michael Jennings | Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor also for Gigli Gigli Gigli is a 2003 romantic comedy film written and directed by Martin Brest and starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Lainie Kazan.... and Daredevil Daredevil (film) Daredevil is a 2003 American superhero film written and directed by Mark Steven Johnson. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, the film stars Ben Affleck as Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who fights for justice in the courtroom and out of the courtroom as the masked vigilante Daredevil... |
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| 2004 | Surviving Christmas Surviving Christmas Surviving Christmas is a 2004 comedy film, directed by Mike Mitchell and starring Ben Affleck. Despite being a Christmas movie, DreamWorks SKG released the movie towards the end of October. This was due to it being advanced from December 2003 to avoid clashing with Affleck's other film, Paycheck.... |
Drew Latham | Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor also for Jersey Girl Jersey Girl (2004 film) Jersey Girl is a 2004 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It stars Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Raquel Castro, George Carlin, Jason Biggs, Jennifer Lopez and Will Smith... |
| Jersey Girl Jersey Girl (2004 film) Jersey Girl is a 2004 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Kevin Smith. It stars Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Raquel Castro, George Carlin, Jason Biggs, Jennifer Lopez and Will Smith... |
Ollie Trinke | Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor also for Surviving Christmas Surviving Christmas Surviving Christmas is a 2004 comedy film, directed by Mike Mitchell and starring Ben Affleck. Despite being a Christmas movie, DreamWorks SKG released the movie towards the end of October. This was due to it being advanced from December 2003 to avoid clashing with Affleck's other film, Paycheck.... Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screen Couple shared with Liv Tyler Liv Tyler Liv Rundgren Tyler is an American actress and model. She is the daughter of Aerosmith's lead singer, Steven Tyler, and Bebe Buell, model and singer. Tyler began a career in modeling at the age of 14, but after less than a year she decided to focus on acting. She made her film debut in the 1994... and Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez is an American actress, singer, record producer, dancer, television personality, and fashion designer. Lopez began her career as a dancer on the television comedy program In Living Color. Subsequently venturing into acting, she gained recognition in the 1995 action-thriller... |
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| 2005 | Elektra Elektra (2005 film) Elektra is a 2005 superhero film directed by Rob Bowman. It is a spin-off from the 2003 film Daredevil, starring the Marvel comics character Elektra Natchios . The story follows Elektra, an international assassin whose weapon of choice is a pair of sai.For the screenplay, Zak Penn, Stuart Zicherman... |
Matt Murdock/Daredevil Daredevil (Marvel Comics) Daredevil is a fictional character, a superhero in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Bill Everett, with an unspecified amount of input from Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Daredevil #1 .Living in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood... |
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| 2006 | Clerks II Clerks II Clerks II is a 2006 American comedy film written and directed by Kevin Smith, sequel to his 1994 film Clerks, and his sixth and latest feature film to be set in the View Askewniverse... |
Gawking Guy | |
| Hollywoodland | George Reeves George Reeves George Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman.... |
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Volpi Cup Volpi Cup The Volpi Cups are the principal awards given to actors at the Venice Film Festival. Formal acting awards were introduced in the second festival . Initially they were called Great Gold Medals of the National Fascist Association for Entertainment. The name Volpi Cup was introduced the following year... Hollywood Film Festival Award for Supporting Actor of the Year Hollywood Film Festival The Hollywood Film Festival is an annual Film festival which is located in Los Angeles, California, USA. The Festival was established in 1997 by Carlos de Abreu and his wife, model Janice Pennington.... Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated—Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:... Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture The Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture was first awarded by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association in 1944 for a performance in a motion picture released in the previous year.... |
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| Man About Town | Jack Giamoro | ||
| 2007 | Smokin' Aces Smokin' Aces Smokin' Aces is a 2006 crime film, written and directed by Joe Carnahan. It stars Jeremy Piven as a Las Vegas magician turned mafia informant and Ryan Reynolds as the FBI agent assigned to protect him... |
Jack Dupree | |
| 2009 | He's Just Not That Into You He's Just Not That into You (film) He's Just Not That Into You is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Ken Kwapis, based on the self-help book of the same name by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, which in turn was inspired by a line of dialogue in Sex and the City... |
Neil | |
| State of Play State of Play (film) State of Play is a 2009 French-British-American political thriller film. It is an adaptation of the six-part British television serial of the same name which first aired on BBC One in 2003. The plot of the six-hour serial was condensed to fit a two-hour movie format, with the location changed to... |
Stephen Collins | ||
| Extract Extract (film) Extract is a 2009 American comedy film written and directed by Mike Judge. Extract stars Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Kristen Wiig, Dustin Milligan, J. K. Simmons, and Ben Affleck. Judge also makes an uncredited appearance as 'Jim', a union organizer.... |
Dean | ||
| 2010 | Bobby Walker | ||
| Doug MacRay |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Gone Baby Gone Gone Baby Gone Gone Baby Gone is a 2007 American crime drama-mystery film directed by Ben Affleck and starring his brother Casey Affleck. The screenplay by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard is based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island... |
Austin Film Critics Award for Best First Film Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Most Promising Filmmaker Chicago Film Critics Association The Chicago Film Critics Association is an American film critic association.-Members:Current members include:*Sarah Knight Adamson*Zbigniew Banas*Shelley Cameron*Dave Canfield*Vittorio Carli*Erik Childress*Camerin Courtney*Bonnie DeShong... Hollywood Film Festival Award for Breakthrough Director of the Year Hollywood Film Festival The Hollywood Film Festival is an annual Film festival which is located in Los Angeles, California, USA. The Festival was established in 1997 by Carlos de Abreu and his wife, model Janice Pennington.... National Board of Review Award for Best Directorial Debut National Board of Review of Motion Pictures The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium... Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Filmmaker Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Filmmaker The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Filmmaker is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best breakthrough filmmaker of the year.-Winners:... |
| 2008 | Gimme Shelter | short film |
| 2010 |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Good Will Hunting | All the following shared with Matt Damon Matt Damon Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck... : Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Writer Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Newcomer of the Year Florida Film Critics Circle The Florida Film Critics Circle is an organization of film reviewers from fourteen Florida-based publications and websites. In December, the FFCC meets to vote on their awards for films released during that year.- Categories :* Best Actor... Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay The Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay - Motion Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association."†" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "‡" indicates the winner of the Academy Award for Best Writing "§" indicates a Golden Globe Award... Humanitas Prize Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an award for film and television writing intended to promote human dignity, meaning, and freedom. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser — also the founder of Paulist Productions — but is generally not seen as specifically directed toward religious... (Feature Film Category) National Board of Review Special Achievement in Filmmaking National Board of Review of Motion Pictures The National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium... Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay The Satellite Award for Best Original Screenplay is an annual award given by the International Press Academy.- 1990s :*1996: Lone Star*1996: The People vs... Nominated—Chlotrudis Award for Best Original Screenplay Chlotrudis Award for Best Original Screenplay The Chlotrudis Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the writer or writers of the winning screenplay that is voted by participating members... Nominated—London Film Critics' Circle Award for Screenwriter of the Year Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo MTV Movie Award for Best On-Screen Duo This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best On-Screen Duo. It was later changed to Best On-Screen Team in 2001. This award was last given out in 2006.-References:... Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Screenplay is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best screenplay of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Nominated—Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay is one of the three film writing awards given by the Writers Guild of America Award.... |
| 2002 | Push, Nevada 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 the ABC network, and ran for 7 episodes before it became one of the first shows to be cancelled during the Fall 2002 season.Created by Ben Affleck and Sean Bailey ,... |
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| 2007 | Gone Baby Gone | |
| 2010 |
| Year | Title | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 2001–2005 | Project Greenlight Project Greenlight Project Greenlight was a contest and 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 Damon, Sean Bailey, and Chris Moore through their production... |
Executive Producer Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program Outstanding Reality Program is a Primetime Emmy Award handed out annually at the Primetime Emmy telecast.-2000s:-2010s:... (2002, 2004, 2005) |
| 2002 | Push, Nevada | Executive Producer |
| 2003 | Producer | |
| 2007 | Gone Baby Gone | Producer |
| 2009 | Reporter | Executive producer Documentary |
Further reading
- Brashares, Ben. Ben Affleck. Aladdin Paperbacks Publishing Staff, 1999. ISBN 978-0-689-82547-7
- Wellman, Sam. Ben Affleck. Facts on File, Inc., 1999. ISBN 978-0-7910-5331-7
- Wukovits, John F. Ben Affleck. Lucent Books, 2004. ISBN 978-1-59018-323-6