Ben Affleck
Donal O’Donoghue meets the A-lister in Madrid to talk about his latest film
“Idon’t hold myself up as some model of great moral virtue or as an example for others to follow but I do think that there is something to be said about dispelling the taboo notion that alcoholism means you have some horrible stain on your character because you struggle with an addiction.” Ben Affleck, sipping water from a bottle, is weighing up his demons and how talking about his addiction can in some small way be part of a conversation to generate greater empathy and understanding. Yet it can also be a celebrity tightrope (or noose) and he knows it. “We are increasingly seeing addiction in so many places in life, whether it’s chemical or substances or shopping or gambling or sex or food. Alcoholism is not something I’m particularly embarrassed about, because it’s only part of what I am, part of my life. It’s not the whole story and it doesn’t define me.” The eventful life of Ben Affleck is impossible to shoehorn into one box anyway. Actor, writer, director and producer, ‘Boston Ben’ was just 25 when he won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar with his best friend Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting. Later, he would become a Hollywood marquee star, be listed as the sexiest man on the planet and be hounded by the paparazzi. Famously engaged to Jennifer Lopez, he was married to Jennifer Garner for ten years and they have three children.
He bagged a second Oscar in 2013 (Best Picture for Argo), but following the #MeToo movement, questions were asked about his early work with Harvey Weinstein, and he made public apologies in 2017 for groping women on camera in the early 2000s. ere’s also his charity work, most notably in the Democratic Republic of Congo, his battle with alcoholism and even the massive phoenix tattoo on his back was dissected (is it even real?) for clues about his well-being.
Now, the 46-year-old is back in the crosshairs with Triple Frontier, an all-action heist movie from Netflix that is part ree Kings, part e Treasure of the Sierra Madre and part Werner Herzog’s Aguirre. In this, Affleck stars alongside Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Pedro Pascal and Garrett Hedlund as one of a posse of ex-special forces operatives who head down South America way to make their fortune by relieving a drug lord of his ill-gotten gains. The Netflix PR person has suggested that all questions should focus on Triple Frontier because it has such a “great ensemble cast” but it seems Affleck (or the media) didn’t see the memo. A few days before he drops by Madrid, the European leg of the junket, the actor spoke about his alcoholism and other non- Triple Frontier matters on NBC’s Today Show. “I was put in a position to talk about it in public and wanted to make the best of it,” he says when we meet. “Alcoholism is certainly something I don’t shy away from talking about.”
Affleck, whatever his faults or failings, is a straight-up guy. Pitch him a question and he bats it right back. A big man, his lm-star looks bruised by hard living, there is a natural pugnacity about him: the way he talks, the way
By far and away the most important thing for me is my children. It’s the thing that I will look back on, wondering what kind of a father I was
he walks. Yet there is a vulnerability too, someone who has seen life from both sides. His parents separating when he was 12; his father, Timothy, battling alcoholism before becoming an addiction counsellor. “Ben’s a physically big guy who can represent the masculine ideal but he’s also great at these quiet moments where you kind of know what he’s thinking even when he’s not saying anything,” says director JC Chandor of Affleck’s performance in Triple Frontier. So here he is in Madrid, still that blue-collar guy from a tough neighbourhood in Boston who had a dream and chased it all the way to Hollywood but later realising, as life goes by, what really matters.
“I found Triple Frontier appealing because it works as a character story, a morality tale and a parable about military intervention,” says Affleck. “And it’s rare that you have a story that works on multiple levels in such a way.” He acknowledges that, stripped back to its bare bones, Triple Frontier is all about recognising what’s most important in life. For Affleck, there is no question what that is. “It’s a cliché and you hear it all the time, but once I had kids, that was the moment for me,” he says. “By far and away the most important thing for me is my children. It’s the thing that I will look back on, wondering what kind of a father I was and did I raise my children well? at’s much more important than anything else. at doesn’t mean that my career or my work or how I treat other people isn’t important. You can keep multiple things in your value chain but family is where my focus is rooted.”
Showbusiness is a key link in that value chain. Affleck doesn’t hesitate to weigh in on the debate about straight-to-online lms versus cinema releases, as raised most recently by Steven Spielberg. “Spielberg is not saying that there shouldn’t be Netflix or that these movies should not be made. I believe the point that he is making is that there should be a certain window of time between when a movie is exhibited theatrically and put on a streaming platform specifically vis à vis qualifying for an award given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. I certainly don’t want to see the theatrical lm-going experience disappear and I don’t think it will. But the movies that we will see in various formats will change and that is happening because of a groundswell technological shi which we have no control over anyway.
In any case for Affleck, Netflix is just another platform for him to work on as a storyteller and actor. Triple Frontier, which was in production limbo since 2009, is a prime example. At different times, various studios and people were attached to the project, including Kathryn Bigelow as director and a gallery of big-name stars including Tom Hanks, Johnny Depp, Will Smith and Mahershala Ali, before the streaming giant stepped in. With JC Chandor at the helm (also credited as co-writer with the Hurt Locker’s Mark Boal), was Affleck tempted to o er his tuppenceworth as an award-winning director? He shakes his head. “When you start directing, you learn that it works best if it’s all the director’s vision and one of the things that really throws some gum in the works is when people o er their opinions because that can create chaos,” he says. “Just nd the direction in which the director wants to take the ship and try and nd how closely aligned you can be with that.” JC Chandor says that Affleck was a dream to work with because he wanted to be there and that is as important as talent. “I’ve worked with two really good directors in my career so far, Mr Redford and Mr Affleck , and they have a lot of similarities,” says Chandor. “Both are smart guys, both had this crazy career when they were young and they skyrocketed to fame, and both went on to direct some pretty good movies. When I directed them they were really relieved not to have to worry about any of the directing stu and go right to the acting part. Ben was also at a place in his life where he wanted to try a little acting and not have to worry about the crap that’s sometimes associated with directing. But he did help out a little bit. He gave me great notes on the script and also on my edit.”
So what does Ben Affleck, actor, writer, director, producer and note-giver, do next? In January he told US chat-show host Jimmy Kimmel that, try as he might, he couldn’t crack the next instalment in the Batman franchise so he was handing over the directing reins to new blood (Matt Reeves). Ask him now about future projects, and he shrugs. “ ere’s your answer; I just don’t know,” he says before adding that there are some projects in the pipeline, not least trying to knock a script out of King Leopold’s Ghost, Adam Hochschild’s award-winning history about the colonial exploitation of the Congo Free State by King Leopold II of Belgium. “But as I get older I’m really conscious about valuing my time with my family,” he says. “Directing can be a big commitment and eclipse the rest of your life, so I want to nd something that is important to me personally to take up that kind of time. I haven’t found it yet.”
Alcoholism is not something I’m particularly embarrassed about because it’s only part of what I am