There was a time that Ben Affleck was considered a joke in Hollywood. Between starring in terrible films like Gigli and the ridiculous "Bennifer" tabloid craze, things weren't looking good for the actor. However, that would all change when he made the decision to step behind the camera with 2007's Gone Baby Gone. Later, he would also direct (and star in) The Town, while his latest film (Argo - the trailer and synopsis of which can be found below) looks set to be another critical and financial success. Talking to Details, Affleck has looked back on that period in his career, specifically highlighting Daredevil as one of the starring roles he most regrets.
"I made a bunch of movies that didn't work. I was ending up in the tabloids. I don't know what the lesson is, except that you just have to find your compass. I liked Sum of All Fears. Daredevil I didn't at all. Some movies should have worked and didn't. At a certain point, it's just up to the movie gods. Anyway, this image becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. And I just said, "I don't want to do it anymore. This is horrible. I don't want to be in this spotlight, this glare, in this way. It's tawdry, it's ugly, it's oppressive, and it's inane. So I'm going to try to get away." And most of the way I did that was by not acting. I said, "I'm going to steer myself toward directing. I'm going to do something that takes me toward a place where the work that I do is reflective of what I think is interesting dramatically."
After some arguably dubious choices such as the films mentioned above, Affleck received a great deal of critical acclaim for his portrayal of 'George Reeves', the actor who played Superman on television in the 1950s. If you read between the lines, it's pretty clear that he had no trouble relating to Reeves after his own time starring in the mostly dreadful 20th Century Fox big screen adaptation of Marvel Comics'
Daredevil.
You know, putting on the uncomfortable, cheesy suit—I understood that. And I understood what it was like to feel limited by perceptions and having ambitions to do things that were more interesting.
For anyone still hoping that Affleck will consider helming
Justice League or another superhero movie for DC Entertainment and Warner Bros., his thoughts on big budget blockbusters seem like a clear indication that he has very little interest in tackling a film of that type. While that's a great shame, it's hard to be too upset when you look at his fantastic work on the likes
The Town and
Argo (which many critics are already suggesting will be a hit come awards seasons after it was screened recently).
"A lot of big movies are almost codirected by FX houses, because what can you do when the script says, "Here's our hero, he flies down, he turns into 30 monkeys, and they spin around and fight each other"? You know? They're the people who have to do it while the director sits there and says, "Uh, I dunno, can that monkey maybe stretch out a little more? What's the elasticity of the tail?" And the audience expects those movies to top each other."
Based on true events, "Argo" chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis—the truth of which was unknown by the public for decades. On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, a CIA "exfiltration" specialist named Tony Mendez comes up with a risky plan to get them safely out of the country. A plan so incredible, it could only happen in the movies.
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