Ben Affleck biography 2022

Actor Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck biography

Ben Affleck was born on August 15, 1972, in Berkeley, California, but relocated to Cambridge, Massachusetts, with his family.

Affleck's parents, Tim - a former actor and director and a drug rehab counselor, and Chris - a schoolteacher and now one of his most prominent advisors - divorced not long after his birth, leaving Chris to care for sons Ben and Casey.

The acting was in the family genes, as both Affleck brothers (Ben is 3 years older than Casey) wanted to become actors early on. By 8, little Ben landed his first role as a regular in The Voyage of the Mimi after an appearance in a Burger King commercial.

In addition to his first acting role, 8-year-old Ben Affleck met his future partner, Matt Damon, who lived a few blocks away in Cambridge. The two had more than little league; they both wanted to become actors.

Affleck was receiving parts here and there, such as in 1986's Wanted: The Perfect Guy, 1987's Hands of a Stranger, 1988's The Second Voyage of the Mimi, and the movie Daddy in 1991.

In the meantime, Affleck and Damon attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School while taking drama lessons, auditioning, and answering casting calls while studying. The bosom buddies parted ways when Damon went to the prestigious Harvard.

Ben Affleck attended the University of Vermont and Occidental College, Eagle Rock, where he studied Middle Eastern studies. Affleck never made it as far as graduation since his desire to act was more appealing than classrooms and exams. He did get a small part as a student in a college in the 1992 film School Ties, in which Damon had a more significant role.

Affleck then appeared in Dazed and Confused in 1993 and co-starred with Claire Forlani and Shannen Doherty in Kevin Smith's Mallrats, which marked the beginning of a relationship.

So impressed was Smith with the latter role that he offered Ben Affleck his first starring role in Smith's Chasing Amy.

Where he portrayed a comic book artist in love with a lesbian, played by Joey Lauren Adams.

Despite Chasing Amy's cult following, Affleck and Damon were both broke. The dream team took matters into their own hands and wrote the screenplay for what would become Good Will Hunting.

Castle Rock was going to take the script at first but was not going to give Affleck and Damon enough control, but after director Kevin Smith took the hand to Miramax's Harvey Weinstein, they were given the go-ahead.

With Damon in the starring role and Ben Affleck as his Boston homeboy, the dynamic duo picked up the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for 1997's Good Will Hunting, the sleeper hit of the year.

The success of Good Will Hunting and Ben Affleck's macho looks was all it took to catapult Affleck into the mainstream. The new golden boy had roles, including 1998's blockbuster Armageddon as Liv Tyler's boyfriend and the Oscar-winning Shakespeare in Love, where he appeared with his on-again, off-again girlfriend, Gwyneth Paltrow.

1999, Affleck appeared in the flop 200 Cigarettes, the romantic comedy Forces of Nature, co-starring Sandra Bullock, and pairing up with Matt Damon for Kevin Smith's controversial Dogma. Affleck had a small yet critical role in the 2000 hit Boiler Room, starred opposite Charlize Theron in Reindeer Games, and co-starred with Gwyneth Paltrow in Bounce that year.

Although it was considered a bomb, Affleck rose to super status when he starred in Pearl Harbor; he chose the role thanks to Gwyneth's encouragement.

Inching his way to the $13 million mark, Affleck accepted $250,000 for his Pearl Harbor role, opting to take a more significant percentage instead. Of the film's profit.

He has been linked with Shoshanna Lonstein and actress Famke Janssen and seems to leave a trail wherever he shoots a movie.

Affleck also has direct experience with the 1993 shorts I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook, and Now I Have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney.

Affleck and Damon are co-founders of Project Greenlight, an organization that funds and assists aspiring filmmakers.

Affleck will next be seen in Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (with a cast of Shannon Elizabeth, Eliza Dushku, and Matt Damon.

Changing Lanes with Samuel L. Jackson, The Third Wheel with Matt Damon and Denise Richards, and The Sum of All Fears with Morgan Freeman.

Named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World, Affleck was active in Gore's Presidential campaign and enjoys reading poetry, collecting motorcycles and vintage video-arcade games, smoking Camel Lights, and just being one of the guys.


last updated October 2022

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