Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck (born Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt; August 15, 1972) is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known in the mid-1990s after his involvment in the film Mallrats (1995), and later played the lead role in Chasing Amy in 1997. Affleck has since become an Academy Award winner along with Matt Damon for their collaborative screenplay in the 1997 film Good Will Hunting. He has established himself as a Hollywood leading man, having starred in several big budget films, such as Armageddon (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), Changing Lanes (2002), The Sum of All Fears (2002), and Daredevil (2003). Affleck recently has drawn critical acclaim for his work as a filmmaker in Gone Baby Gone (2007) and The Town (2010). In the latter of which he played the main role. He has collaborated on occasion with his younger brother, actor Casey Affleck. He is of English, French, German, Irish, Northern Irish (Scotch-Irish), Scottish, Swedish, Swiss and Welsh descent.

Quotes

 * I asked Michael (Bay) why it was easier to train oil drillers to become astronauts than it was to train astronauts to become oil drillers. He told me to shut the fuck up, so that was the end of that talk. He said, 'You know, Ben, just shut up, okay? You know, this is a real plan.' I was like, 'You mean it's a real plan at NASA to train oil drillers?' And he was, 'Just shut your mouth.' See, here's where we demonstrate that, because Bruce (Willis) is going to tell the guys they did a bad job of building the drill tank. See, he's a salt-of-the-earth guy, and the NASA nerd-o-nauts don't understand his salt-of-the-earth way, his rough-and-tumble ways. Like somehow they can build rocket ships, but they don't understand what makes a good tranny. Like eight whole months, as if that's not long enough to learn to drill a hole. But in a week, we're gonna learn how to be astronauts. I mean, this a little bit of a stretch, let's face it. 'They don't know jack about drilling'? How hard can it be? Aim the drill at the ground and turn it on.
 * Armageddon: The Criterion Collection (1998)


 * I'm always described as "cocksure" or "with a swagger," and that bears no resemblance to who I feel like inside. I feel plagued by insecurity.
 * Regarding directing his first feature film
 * "Big Ben makes directing debut" Robin Walker. Daily Post. Liverpool (UK): May 30, 2008.


 * This is a second act for me, and you give me that. I wanna thank you for this. I'm so grateful and proud. I just wanna to dedicated this (the award) to anyone else out there, who is trying to get a second act, because you can do. (Speech after receiving the British Academy Film Awards for the Best Director)
 * (from the video Ben Affleck wins Best Director at BAFTAs 2013, channel "Sony Pix", February 09, 2013.


 * We've killed more Muslims than they've killed us by an awful lot, and we've invaded more Islamic nations. But we're exempted from these things?
 * October 2016, In an argument with TV show host Bill Maher