Ben Affleck: The Epitome of Success
Born Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt on August 15th 1972, Ben Affleck has risen from humble beginnings to being one of the world’s most prominent actors, producer, screen writer and film director. From childhood, he was regularly taken to the theater and encouraged to make home movies and together with his brother Casey Affleck auditioned for different roles in film productions and local commercials.
When he was 8 years old, he became close friends with Matt Damon who had recently moved into the neighborhood. They would go on to pursue their acting dreams together traveling to New York for auditions and working construction jobs to save money for plane and train tickets in a joint account.
His first professional acting role came when he was 7 in Dark Side of the Street’, an independent local film which was directed by a friend of the family. He starred in the children’s series, The Voyage of the Mimi and its sequel, The Second Voyage of the Mimi (1988) from when he was 8 years to when he was 15 years. While in high school, he appeared in several television dramas including Hands of a Stranger in 1989 and a Burger King commercial. After high school, he played several minor roles including appearing in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992) for which he did not receive credits, playing supporting roles in; the television movie Daddy, School Ties, Against the Grain, Body to Die For: The Aaron Henry Story and Dazed and Confused.
His first starring role came years later when he was cast as an art student in Glory Daze (1995)followed by Mallrats (1995) in which he played a bully. He later commented that these roles made him begin to worry that he would be defined and relegated to the part of throwing people into lockers for the rest of his career. His lively personality and ability to improvise led writer and director Kevin Smith to write the leading role of the romantic comedy Chasing Amy (1997) specifically for him. Later in 1997, he starred in Going All the Way as a veteran who had returned recently from the Korean War, his performance resulted in a lot of positive reviews.
In what could be called the defining moment of his career, Affleck co-wrote and costarred with Damon in Good Will Hunting. The two friends had worked on the script since 1992 and drew from their life experiences. Apart from being a huge success commercially, the film nominated for 9 Oscars resulted in both an Academy Award and Golden Globe for their incredible script writing.
Following this success he went on to play memorable roles in many films including Pearl Harbor, Armageddon and Changing Lanes.
His career has however not been without its low moments. In 2003, he starred in Daredevil which despite commercial success grossing 179 million dollars, received mixed criticism and in a later interview, Affleck would define as the only movie he actually regretted. Gigli released in the same year received unfavorable reviews. The next year, Surviving Christmas was also critically unapproved.
His directorial debut came in 2007 with Gone, Baby, Gone starring Casey Affleck, his brother. He later directed The Town and Argo for which he received a BAFTA award, Directors Guild of America award and a Golden Globe.
The 43 year old father of three shows no signs of stopping, he is set to star in Zack Snyder’s Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016. Ben Affleck has overcome great odds to become an outstanding leading man, script writer and director.
