Ben Affleck

For the American cement businessman, see B. F. Affleck.

Ben Affleck
aboard USS Enterprise (CVN-65), 2003
Born	Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt
Years active	1987 — present
Spouse(s)	Jennifer Garner (2005 — present)
Awards	Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture 2006 Hollywoodland Volpi Cup for Best Actor 2006 Hollywoodland

Benjamin Géza Affleck (born August 15, 1972) is an Academy Award-winning American film screenwriter, director and actor. He became known in the late 1990s, after his involvement in the film Good Will Hunting, and has since become a Hollywood leading man, having starred in several big budget films, such as Pearl Harbor.

Biography

Early life

Affleck was born Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt in Berkeley, California, the son of Chris Ann (née Boldt), a school district employee and teacher, and Timothy Affleck, a drug counselor, social worker, janitor, auto mechanic, bar tender, and former actor with the Theater Company of Boston. Affleck's mother attended Harvard University and taught at Brearley School. Affleck's younger brother is actor Casey Affleck. Affleck has Irish ancestry. His family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts when he was very young and his parents divorced in 1984. At the age of eight, Affleck met ten-year-old Matt Damon, who lived two blocks away. Affleck and Damon would later attend Cambridge Rindge and Latin School together, although they were in different year groups. Affleck attended Occidental College in Los Angeles, as well as the University of Vermont.

Career

Affleck worked as a child actor, appearing on the PBS kids' series The Voyage of the Mimi as well as in several made-for-television movies. Throughout the 1990s, Affleck had a role in LifeStories: Families in Crisis as a steroid abusing athlete as well as several notable films, including 1992's School Ties (with Matt Damon and Brendan Fraser), 1993's Dazed and Confused, 1995's Mallrats and 1997's Chasing Amy; Mallrats and Amy began his collaboration with writer/director Kevin Smith. Affleck has appeared in every film Smith has made with the exception of Kevin Smith's first film Clerks.

Affleck had a one-line speaking role as a high school basketball player in the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. He and fellow Boston Red Sox fanatic Matt Damon had roles as extras in the movie Field of Dreams when characters played by Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones go to Fenway Park.

Affleck came to national attention working with best-friend Damon in Good Will Hunting (1997). They shared credit and both received the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. 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 amongst other projects. Project Greenlight was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program in 2002, 2004 and 2005.

Following Good Will Hunting, Affleck had starring roles in many successful movies, including Armageddon, Forces of Nature, Pearl Harbor, Changing Lanes, The Sum of All Fears and Daredevil, establishing himself as a Hollywood leading man throughout the early 2000s. However, after the release of several critically panned, box office flops, including Gigli (2003) and Surviving Christmas (2004), Affleck's career waned considerably. He did not appear in any films until 2006 when he appeared in Clerks II. In addition to being a fan of the Daredevil comics (Frank Miller's run specifically), he wrote the introduction to the trade paperback Daredevil: Guardian Devil which reprints Daredevil (Volume 2) #1 – 8 (written by Kevin Smith).

Affleck made what can be considered a comeback with the September 2006 release of the critically acclaimed George Reeves biopic-noir Hollywoodland, directed by HBO TV-series veteran Allen Coulter. His performance was impressive enough that he was awarded the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and has also 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. Affleck had his directorial debut with Gone, Baby, Gone, for which he also co-wrote the screenplay, about two Boston area detectives investigating a little girl's kidnapping and how it affects their lives. Based on the book by Dennis Lehane, it opened to rave reviews in October, 2007, and has led to speculation of Academy Award nominations for Affleck and his brother Casey (who plays the leading role). Writes Jack Mathews in the New York Daily News: "Ben Affleck won an Oscar for the Good Will Hunting script he co-wrote with Matt Damon, but this is his first outing behind the camera. Whatever you think of his acting, he's got real chops as a filmmaker. The movie has energy, pace, some insanely well-choreographed action sequences, outstanding performances and a couple of speeches that belong in the pulp fiction hall of fame." Claudia Puig in USA Today remarks: "Ben Affleck has come of age as a director." And Stephen Hunter in the Washington Post comments that Affleck "shows that even if he never developed a memorable performance when he was in front of the camera, he was paying attention to what was going on behind it."

Personal life

Affleck had a high-profile romance with actress Gwyneth Paltrow 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 Jersey Girl. The same year, his engagement to Lopez was announced, and the relationship between the two received a lot of attention by the entertainment media who dubbed the couple "Bennifer." The couple broke up in 2004 while they were due to get married on the 14th of September of that year, both blaming the media attention - including an alleged incident in which Affleck partied with Christian Slater and some lap dancers in Vancouver. This negative publicity and media attention was also brought along to the 2004 Jersey Girl, which also was a box office failure.

Affleck subsequently dated his Daredevil co-star, actress Jennifer Garner, and the two were engaged after nine months of seeing each other. In May 2005, it was announced that Garner was pregnant and the couple were married on June 29, 2005 on the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos. Garner gave birth to a daughter, Violet Anne Affleck, on December 1, 2005 in Los Angeles, California. Affleck has a holiday home in Savannah, Georgia. The family was in Cambridge for the summer while Affleck was directing Gone, Baby, Gone.

Affleck is an avid poker player, regularly entering 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. Affleck is a fan of the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots and Boston Celtics.

Affleck quit smoking after starring in the 2007 film 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.

Affleck supports a non-profit organization called the A-T Childrens Project. He started supporting the A-TCP after meeting Joe Kindregan when filming Forces of Nature. Kindregan, who was then 9 years old, has a rare disease called ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T). Affleck has attended benefits and spoken to Congress to advocate for the A-T Childrens Project. The disease, described as like having muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis, immune deficiency and cancer all at once, is progressive; children with A-T usually do not live beyond their late teens. In 2007, Affleck was the keynote speaker at the Graduation Ceremony for Falls Church High School at the GMU Patriot Center. Of his best friend and graduating senior Joe Kindregan, Affleck mentions that though Kindregan is bound to a wheelchair, through his perseverance he has taught Affleck, "How to stand."

Political activism

In the final weeks of the 2000 Presidential campaign, 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 spoke on behalf of Gore in California, Florida, and Pennsylvania. During a stop in Pittsburgh, the star — 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," Affleck 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. Affleck 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, Affleck 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". However, as The Smoking Gun later discovered, Affleck himself did not vote that day.

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". In the March 2003 issue of Vanity Fair, Affleck again proposes the possibility of a future run for Congress. "I think there's a real nobility to public service... It would be fun to run on a platform I really believed in, without being beholden to the win-at-all-costs mentality".

In 2004, Affleck actively campaigned for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. During the first day of the Democratic Convention, Affleck was featured on Larry King Live with Tucker Carlson and Al Sharpton. Larry King asked Affleck 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 political figures Ronald Reagan, and Arnold Schwarzenegger, both came from the entertainment business, although both were members of the Republican Party. During the campaign, Affleck remained diplomatic, saying, "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."

He appeared in a print ad with his openly gay cousin, Jason, in support of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.

Affleck in popular culture

• Affleck was mentioned in "I'll Sue Ya" on "Weird Al" Yankovic's CD, Straight Outta Lynwood: "I'll sue Ben Affleck...... aw, do I even need a reason?"
• On Will & Grace, after the character Jack has his voice dubbed over in his most recent TV series, he explains to Josh Lucas that Lucas is Matt Damon and that he's "Ben Affleck in Gigli...or Paycheck...or Bounce...or Jersey Girl...or Surviving Christmas." This is a joke on how many films he has had bomb.
• Affleck appears to embrace some of his failed movies; in Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, Affleck is seen alongside Damon on the fictitious set of Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season, where Damon mocks the failure of Affleck's Reindeer Games while the two discuss their movie choices.
• Affleck has been prominent in two South Park episodes. In "How to Eat with Your Butt", Affleck was found to be the missing child of a couple suffering from a facial deformity in which their heads were encased in buttocks. In "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", Affleck was portrayed as Jennifer Lopez's boyfriend, until he left her for Eric Cartman's hand puppet, also named Jennifer Lopez.
• Affleck is a favorite target of Mike Nelson's RiffTrax.
• Affleck is mentioned in The Simpsons episode "See Homer Run", saying that he ran most of Homer's political campaign.
• Affleck is mentioned during dialogue scenes in James Clancy Phelan's thriller novel, PATRIOT ACT.
• In the movie Team America: World Police, Affleck is mentioned in a song when the vocalist makes a joke about how he needs his girlfriend like Affleck needs acting school.
• In the video game Tony Hawk's American Wasteland, one of the first tasks the player must complete in Hollywood is performing a kickflip over a "lame" actor named Ben Whofleck. This is later confirmed as a takeoff on Affleck, as an NPC comments that Whofleck "sucked in Pearl Harbor".
• In the film Date Movie, Affleck is mentioned when the main character goes to see "Hitch" (a parody of the Will Smith character in the film Hitch), who references all of the couples he's responsible for to show his expertise. Ben Affleck is referred to three times: first with "Ben and Jen," (Jennifer Lopez, whom Affleck actually dated) "Ben and Jen," (Jennifer Garner, whom he is currently married to) and "Ben and Matt (Matt Damon)." This is a play on how close they are as friends, suggesting that they were close enough to have been involved, although they actually never were.
• Affleck appeared in Jimmy Kimmel's video 'I'm Fucking Ben Affleck'; a response to Kimmel's girlfriend, Sarah Silverman's, video 'I'm Fucking Matt Damon'. Many other celebrities appeared in the video including Benji Madden and Joel Madden from Good Charlotte, 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.
• The National Enquirer reported in March 2008 that Affleck was interviewed by Sasha Baron Cohen in character for the movie Bruno, scheduled to hit theatres in late 2008. A confused Affleck had no idea it was a gag until speaking with friend Sarah Silverman later that day where she informed him on the movie and Baron Cohen's character.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	The Voyage of the Mimi	C.T. Granville
1992	School Ties	Chesty Smith
1993	Dazed and Confused	Fred O'Bannion
1995	Mallrats	Shannon Hamilton
1996	Glory Daze	Jack
1997	Good Will Hunting	Chuckie Sullivan	also Writer
	Chasing Amy	Holden McNeil
	Going All the Way	Tom "Gunner" Casselman
1998	Shakespeare in Love	Ned Alleyn
	Armageddon	A.J. Frost
	Phantoms	Sheriff Bryce Hammond
1999	Dogma	Bartleby
	Forces of Nature	Ben Holmes
	200 Cigarettes	Bartender
2000	Bounce	Buddy Amaral
	Reindeer Games	Rudy Duncan
	Boiler Room	Jim Young
2001	Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back	Holden McNeil/Himself
	Pearl Harbor	Army Air Corps Pilot Rafe McCawley
2002	The Sum of All Fears	Jack Ryan
	Changing Lanes	Gavin Banek
2003	Paycheck	Michael Jennings
	Gigli	Larry Gigli
	Daredevil	Matt Murdock/Daredevil
2004	Surviving Christmas	Drew Latham
	Jersey Girl	Ollie Trinke
2005	Elektra	Matt Murdock/Daredevil	(Scene Cut)
2006	Clerks II	Gawking Guy
	Hollywoodland	George Reeves
	Man About Town	Jack Giamoro
2007	Gone Baby Gone		Director
	Smokin' Aces	Jack Dupree
2008	He's Just Not That Into You	Neil	post-production
	State of Play	Stephen Collins	filming
	Bruno	himself	filming

External links

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• Ben Affleck at People.com
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