Ben Affleck Biography

Born on August 15, 1972, Benjamin Géza Affleck is an American actor and director. Two Academy Awards are among his honors. When he played the lead role in the educational PBS series The Voyage of the Mimi (1984, 1988), Affleck launched his professional acting career. Later, he made cameos in several Kevin Smith films, including Chasing Amy (1997), and the indie comedy Dazed and Confused (1993).

Affleck became more well-known after he and Matt Damon won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for writing and co-starring in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting. In studio productions like the disaster movie Armageddon (1998), the war drama Pearl Harbor (2001), and the thrillers The Sum of All Fears and Changing Lanes (both 2002), he made a name for himself as a leading actor. Affleck made a comeback after a slump in his acting career by playing George Reeves in the movie Hollywoodland (2006), for which he won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor.

His 2007 film Gone Baby Gone, which he also co-wrote, was warmly regarded as his directorial debut. The criminal drama The Town (2010) and the political thriller Argo (2012), both critical and commercial hits, were the next two films he directed and acted in. Affleck received both the BAFTA and Academy Award for Best Picture for the latter, as well as the BAFTA Award for Best Director. After that, Affleck appeared in the psychological suspense film Gone Girl (2014) and portrayed Batman in a number of DC films, including Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016).

In the 2016 thriller The Accountant and the 2020 sports drama The Way Back, he played the lead role. In the dramas The Tender Bar (2021), The Last Duel (2021), and Air (2023), the latter of which he also directed, Affleck transitioned to supporting parts.

The Eastern Congo Initiative is a charity dedicated to grantmaking and lobbying, and Affleck is one of its co-founders. He is a devoted member of the Democratic Party. In addition to being co-owners of Pearl Street Films, Affleck and Damon are co-owners of the production business Artists Equity.

Ben Affleck Quick Facts

• Name: Ben Affleck
• Birth Year: 1972
• Birth date: August 15, 1972
• Birth State: California
• Birth City: Berkeley
• Birth Country: United States
• Gender: Male
• Best Known For: Actor, screenwriter and producer Ben Affleck is known for an array of high-profile films, including ‘Good Will Hunting,’ ‘Argo’ and ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.’
• Industries
  • Comedy
  • Drama
  • Action
• Astrological Sign: Leo

Ben Affleck Early life

Affleck was born in Berkeley, California, on August 15, 1972.When he was three years old, his family relocated to Massachusetts, first settling in Cambridge and then in Falmouth, where his brother Casey was born. Christopher Anne “Chris” Boldt, his mother, had a Harvard education and worked as an elementary school teacher. Timothy Byers Affleck, his father, was a dramatist aspirant who was “mostly unemployed.” He intermittently worked at Harvard as a carpenter, auto mechanic, bookie, electrician, bartender, and janitor, among other jobs. He had worked as a stage manager and actor with the Theater Company of Boston in the middle of the 1960s.

Affleck has recalled his father drinking “all day… every day” when he was a boy. His father had a “severe, chronic problem with alcoholism” at the time, according to Affleck. At the age of 11, after his parents’ divorced and his father left the family home, Affleck experienced a sense of “relief” because his father was “very difficult”. His father kept up the heavy drinking and eventually lost his home, spending two years living on Cambridge’s streets. When Affleck was 16 years old, his father checked into an Indio, California, recovery center. For the duration of his twelve-year sobriety, he resided at the facility and worked as an addiction counselor.

Affleck grew up in a liberal, politically engaged family. He and his brother Casey were surrounded by individuals who were involved in the arts; they frequently went to plays with their mother; they were also encouraged to produce their own home videos. Family friend David Wheeler later recalled Affleck as a “very bright and intensely curious” youngster. Due to their mother’s acquaintance with a casting director in the Cambridge area, the brothers were given the opportunity to apply for parts in local commercials and film productions, and Affleck had his acting debut at the age of seven. His mother worried that acting was an unstable and “frivolous” career and put his earnings into a college trust fund in the hopes that he would eventually become a teacher.

Affleck shot a children’s television show in Mexico when he was just 13 years old. During a year spent touring the nation with his mother and sibling, he picked up the language.

Affleck participated in theater shows while a student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, where theatre teacher Gerry Speca served as an inspiration. Matt Damon, a classmate who he had known since he was eight years old, and he grew close. Despite Damon being two years older, the two had “identical interests” and had a desire to become actors. They accumulated money for train and flight tickets in a shared bank account before traveling to New York together for acting tryouts.

Affleck was a generally unfocused student who had poor attendance even though he had great SAT scores[9].He chose to study Spanish at the University of Vermont since it was close to his then-girlfriend  and spent a few months there. However, he departed after breaking his hip while playing basketball. Affleck traveled to Los Angeles at the age of 18 and spent a year and a half at Occidental College studying Middle Eastern issues.

Early Films: ‘School Ties,’ ‘Dazed and Confused’

Affleck briefly studied at the University of Vermont and Occidental College in California before leaving to pursue his acting career in Hollywood. School Ties (1992), which also starred Damon and Brendan Fraser, was his debut feature picture. Then, in the 1993 cult film Dazed and Confused, Affleck played a bully. Then, in filmmaker Kevin Smith’s Mallrats (1995), he joined the supporting cast, and in Smith’s Chasing Amy (1997), he played the romantic lead.

Ben Affleck Big Break: ‘Good Will Hunting’

Affleck and Damon wrote the screenplay for “Good Will Hunting,” a 1992 movie about a disturbed young math prodigy. In 1996, Miramax bought the movie’s rights after a protracted battle to get the script made. Good Will Hunting, starring Damon, Affleck, and Robin Williams, was published in 1997 to rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. The best original screenplay awards, won by Affleck and Damon, propelled the buddies into the spotlight.

Following his Oscar victory, Affleck was cast in a number of prestigious movies. He co-starred in the massive disaster film Armageddon (1998) with Bruce Willis and Liv Tyler, which went on to become the second-highest grossing movie of that year with over $550 million in international box office receipts. He received a supporting role in Shakespeare in Love that same year, which went on to win several Academy Awards, including best picture.

When he started dating his co-star in Shakespeare in Love, Gwyneth Paltrow, Affleck made headlines. In late 1998, the couple announced their separation, but they remained close friends.

A year later, Affleck starred alongside Damon, Chris Rock, Janeane Garofalo, and Alanis Morissette in Kevin Smith’s irreverent comedy Dogma. In the same year, he co-starred with Sandra Bullock in the mediocre romantic comedy Forces of Nature.

‘Pearl Harbor,’ ‘Sum of All Fears’ and ‘Daredevil’

Affleck contributed to the polished financial market drama Boiler Room in 2000, and he also starred in the fast-paced action film Reindeer Games with Charlize Theron and Gary Sinise. He also appeared in the love story Bounce alongside Paltrow.

With Armageddon directors and producers Michael Bay and Jerry Bruckheimer, Affleck collaborated once more on the summer 2001 blockbuster action film Pearl Harbor, which also starred Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, and Cuba Gooding Jr. Affleck booked himself into a prestigious rehab facility in Malibu, California, soon after the movie hit theaters to receive treatment for alcoholism. Affleck, who was raised by an alcoholic, stated via a spokesman that he had “decided that a fuller life awaits him without alcohol.”

Affleck made the transition to television in the fall of 2002 when he co-produced the ABC mystery series Push, Nevada. The mystery-solving viewer would receive $1 million in cash, but the show was terminated just a few weeks into the season. Affleck and Damon teamed up once more to form the production business LivePlanet. The pair created the documentary program Project Greenlight, which provided budding screenwriters with a platform to realize their original ideas. Three Emmy nominations were received for the program in the reality programming category.

Later same year, Affleck made his comeback to the big screen when he played the youthful Jack Ryan in The Sum of All Fears, directed by Tom Clancy. The successful box office performance of the film solidified Affleck’s status as an action star. His subsequent movie, the superhero action-adventure Daredevil (2003), likewise did well at the box office and broke records for its Presidents’ Day weekend opening.

Engagement to Jennifer Lopez

Affleck found love with actress and musician Jennifer Lopez during his time in treatment. Their connection brought Affleck back into the spotlight, earning them the nickname “Bennifer.” Affleck proposed to Lopez in November 2003, and she started wearing a $3.5 million ring. He then appeared with his fiancée in the eagerly awaited movie Gigli. Despite the hoopla, only $3 million was made at the box office over the first weekend. The failure of the film signaled the start of a trying period in both Affleck’s professional and personal lives.

Early in 2004, Affleck and Lopez announced their separation, citing excessive public attention as the cause. In April 2022, the two renewed their romance and became engaged once more. In August 2022, they got married again.

‘Hollywoodland’ and ‘Gone Baby Gone’

Affleck starred in the critically panned sci-fi thriller Paycheck in 2004, which did poorly at the box office. Smith’s Jersey Girl (2004) and the comedy Surviving Christmas (2004), his next two movies, similarly had trouble drawing in viewers.

Affleck kept himself busy in Hollywood, appearing in Smokin’ Aces (2006), Hollywoodland (2006), Clerks II (2006), and Man About Town (2006), all of which had respectable box office performances.

As the director and co-writer of the movie Gone Baby Gone in 2007, Affleck worked on the other side of the camera. Critics gave the Boston-based crime drama, in which the director’s brother Casey Affleck starred, high marks. Affleck made a comeback to acting in 2009 with the financially successful He’s Just Not That Into You as well as the action movies State of Play and Extract.

Ben Affleck Oscar Win for ‘Argo’

With the 2012 release of Argo, a movie about former CIA agent Tony Mendez who guided six American hostages to safety during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979, Affleck had one of his greatest achievements both in front of and behind the camera. In addition to directing, co-producing, and acting in the movie as Mendez, Affleck.

Affleck won the Golden Globe for best director for his work on Argo. Both the 2013 Academy Award for Best Picture and the Golden Globe for Best Picture in the drama category went to the movie. Six additional categories, including Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Alan Arkin, were included in the nominations for Argo for the Academy Awards.

‘Gone Girl’ and ‘Batman v Superman’

Following Argo’s enormous success, Affleck undertook a unique range of endeavors. He co-starred in the 2013 suspense film Runner Runner starring Gemma Arterton and Justin Timberlake.

Affleck also starred in the 2014 motion picture Gone Girl, which was made based on the bestselling book by Gillian Flynn. He portrays a husband who is made a suspect in the disappearance of his famous wife, Rosamund Pike’s character.

Affleck gained notoriety in August 2013 when he agreed to play Bruce Wayne/Batman opposite Henry Cavill, the Man of Steel, in Batman v Superman. Affleck’s casting received a fast and negative response from Batman fans, with some even beginning a petition to get him fired. But Affleck also got a lot of help from others in the entertainment industry, such Batman Forever actor Val Kilmer and filmmaker Joss Whedon.

In spite of the film’s mostly unfavorable reviews after its 2016 release, Affleck was commended by critics for his portrayal of Batman in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. In addition, Affleck played Batman in the critically acclaimed superhero movie Suicide Squad (2016) and again in Justice League (2017).

Affleck backed out of directing the Batman movie that was initially planned in 2017. He officially announced his departure from the role of the Caped Crusader in the early months of 2019.

‘The Accountant’ and ‘Live by Night’

Affleck has played a range of parts in addition to the Dark Knight, including an autistic accountant in The Accountant (2016) and a gangster in the 2016 movie Live by Night, which the actor also wrote and directed.

Fox won the rights to the story in a bidding war in August 2018, shortly after The Daily Beast published an article about a long-running scheme involving the manipulation of McDonald’s annual Monopoly promotion. Affleck was attached to direct, and Damon was cast as the security guard who oversaw the scheme.

‘Triple Frontier’

Affleck starred in Netflix’s Triple Frontier in 2019 as a struggling veteran of the military who is hired on a lucrative mission to kill a South American drug lord. He then made an appearance in Kevin Smith’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (2019), and in The Last Thing He Wanted (2020), he costarred as a diplomat opposite Anne Hathaway’s troubled journalist.

Relationship With Jennifer Garner and Alcohol

Following their split, Affleck started dating Jennifer Garner, his co-star in the Netflix series Daredevil. After dating for nine months, they became engaged, and on June 29, 2005, they got married. On December 1st, 2005, they gave birth to Violet Anne, their first child.

Seraphina was the couple’s second daughter, born to Garner in January 2009. Samuel, the family’s son, was born on February 27, 2012.

Following extensive media coverage of their union, Affleck and Garner confirmed their divorce in 2015. Shortly following their 10th wedding anniversary in June, they announced their separation. However, according to a March 2017 People magazine article, the couple decided against divorcing in order to repair their marriage. In March, Affleck also announced on Facebook that he had finished alcohol addiction treatment.

He wrote, “I have finished alcohol addiction treatment; something I’ve grappled with in the past and will continue to confront. “I want to be the best father I can be and live life to the fullest. I want my kids to understand that asking for help when you need it is never a sign of weakness and that they can be an inspiration to anyone else who needs support but is hesitant to ask for it. I’m fortunate to have the support of my family, friends, and co-parent, Jen, who has taken good care of our children while I’ve worked hard to complete the task I set out to do. This was the beginning of several actions that would lead to a successful recovery.

In April 2017, the couple formally filed for divorce. They requested shared legal and physical custody of their children as part of an allegedly amicable divorce. Their separation became official on October 5, 2018.

Affleck made his new relationship with Saturday Night Live producer Lindsay Shookus public in the middle of 2017. It was thought that the couple had broken up by August 2018, and Affleck was then said to be dating Playboy model Shauna Sexton.

Affleck was reportedly back in rehab for alcoholism at that point, according to reports. After Garner was seen leaving her ex-husband’s house and driving him to a Malibu treatment center, the news was confirmed.

Affleck talked openly about his family’s history of alcoholism and mental illness in an interview with The New York Times in February 2020. He also attributed his drinking to hastening his divorce from Garner, calling it his “biggest regret” in life.

What nationality is Affleck?

Born on August 15, 1972, Benjamin Géza Affleck is an American actor and director. Two Academy Awards are among his honors.

What is Ben Affleck most known for?

News recently. American actor and director Ben Affleck, whose full name is Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt, was born in Berkeley, California, on August 15, 1972. He has starred in action, drama, and comedy movies, but is arguably best known for his work as a screenwriter, director, and producer.

Does Ben Affleck have tattoos?

The number of body paintings Ben Affleck owns is impressive. That much ink cannot be hidden. Ben Affleck admitted to having several tattoos to “Extra” in 2016. “I actually do have a number of tattoos, but I try to have them in places where you don’t have to do a lot of cover up — they get sort of addictive, after a while,” he said.

Did Jennifer Lopez change her last name to Affleck?

Jennifer Lo changed her legal name to Jennifer Affleck on their Nevada marriage license. Jennifer discussed her decision to alter her last name in her December 2022 Vogue cover story. People will continue to refer to me as Jennifer Lopez.

Where is Ben Affleck accent from?

Ben Affleck is powered by Dunkin’! Ben returns to his Boston accent in the first teaser for the 50-year-old actor’s next Super Bowl commercial, which was posted on Dunkin’s Instagram on Thursday.

Who has more wealth Jennifer Lopez or Ben Affleck?

According to estimates, Ennifer Lopez will be worth between $400 and $450 million by the year 2032. According to Celebrity Net Worth, he earns around $40 million annually. In contrast, Lopez’s boyfriend Ben Affleck is said to have a net worth of $150 million as of 2022.

Is Ben Affleck richer than Jennifer Lopez?

With a combined net worth of $550 million (J-Lo is worth $400 million and Ben is worth $150 million), OK! magazine said at the time that J-Lo and Ben decided against signing a prenuptial agreement to protect their fortune since their love is “unconditional.”