Mini Biography

Benjamin Geza Affleck was born on August 15, 1972 in Berkeley, California, USA but raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He was born to parents Tim Affleck, a social worker who is now divorced from Ben's mother Chris Affleck, a school teacher. Ben also has a younger brother, actor Casey Affleck, who was born in 1975.

Ben wanted to be an actor ever since he could remember and his first acting experience was for a Burger King commercial, when he was *very* young. At 8 years old Ben was given his first steady acting job on the PBS mini-series "Voyage of the Mimi, The" (1984).

It was also at that age when Ben met his lifelong friend and fellow actor, Matt Damon. They played little league together and took drama classes together. Ben's teen years consisted of mainly TV movies and small television appearances including Hands of a Stranger (1987) (TV) and "Second Voyage of the Mimi, The" (1988).

He made his big introduction into feature films in 1993 when he was cast in Dazed and Confused (1993). After that he did mostly independent films like 'Kevin Smith (I)' 's Mallrats (1995) and Chasing Amy (1997) which were great for Ben's career, receiving renowned appreciation for his works at the Sundance film festival.

But the success he was having in independent films didn't last much longer and things got a little shaky for Ben. He was living in an apartment with his brother Casey and friend Matt, getting tired of being turned down for the big roles in films and being given the forgettable supporting ones. Since Matt was having the same trouble they decided to write their own script, where they could call all the shots.

So, after finishing the script for Good Will Hunting (1997) they gave it to their agent Patrick Whitesell who showed it to a few Hollywood studios, finally being accepted by Castlerock. It was great news for the two but Castlerock wasn't willing to give Ben and Matt the control over the project they were hoping for. It was friend Kevin Smith who took it to the head of Miramax who bought the script giving Ben and Matt the control they wanted and in December of 1997 Good Will Hunting (1997) was released, making the two unknown actors famous.

The film was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and won two, including Best Original Screenplay for Ben and Matt. The film marked Ben's breakthrough role, in which he was given for the first time the chance to choose roles instead of having to go through grueling auditions constantly.

He chose such roles in the blockbusters Armageddon (1998), Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Pearl Harbor (2001). With these hits to his credit, Hollywood can't seem to get enough of Ben, with directors wanting him in their movies and companies wanting his screenplays.

His inspirational story of hard work and amazing climb to the top has brought him what he deserves and Ben Affleck has shown no sign of slowing down.

Trivia

• Fined $135 for driving in Massachusetts with a suspended license. [1999] Dated Gwyneth Paltrow. [1998 - Jan 1999] Brother of actor Casey Affleck.
• Friend, and frequent collaborator, with actor Matt Damon. Owns vintage Ms. Pac-Man and Millipede video-arcade games.
• He was accidently knocked unconscious by football player Dana Stubblefield during the filming of Reindeer Games (2000). Stubblefield slipped, and Affleck was knocked down. He was taken to the hospital, but fully recovered.
• When he was little, he asked his mom for a dog, and she tested him by making him walk an imaginary dog for a week. Ben only lasted for 5 days and didn't get the dog. Graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School in 1990.
• Dropped out of the University of Vermont after 1 semester.
• Dropped out of Occidental College after 1 year, where he had studied Middle Eastern studies. He and Damon sold their Good Will Hunting script for $600,000. Has his teeth capped. Owns 5 motorcycles.
• Chosen as one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World [2000] Chosen as one of People Magazine's Most Beautiful People in the World [1999]
• Auditioned for Corey Haim's part in License to Drive (1988). Was an extra with friend Matt Damon in Field of Dreams (1989).
• Charlie Sheen drove Ben Affleck to Promises Rehabilitation Center last August, 2001 Ranked #77 in Premiere's 2002 annual Power 100 List.
• Is known for being a very good impressionist. He usually picks one of his costars while filming a movie and studies them. He displays his impressions on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno almost every time he is a guest. While filming The Sum Of All Fears (2002), he chose to study co-star Morgan Freeman. When he showed Morgan his impression on set, it was so accurate Freeman told him "You ever do that again, I'll kill you".
• Confirms engagement to Jennifer Lopez, after giving her a reportedly $3.5 million ring. (Nov. 2002)
• His mother is Irish and father is Scottish Voluntarily entered Promises Rehabilitation Center in Malibu, CA for alcohol abuse. [31 July 2001] Named People's Sexiest Man Alive (2002)
• He was inspired to contribute to the Neil Bogart Memorial Fund, which supports cancer research at Los Angeles Children's Hospital, after meeting Molly Hanna, who died of cancer in 2002. She was a student in his mother's fifth-grade class.
• Growing up, the Marvel Comic book character Daredevil was his hero. He got to play the character in the 2003 movie.
• Ranked #41 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List.
• Is getting paid $1.5 million dollars for doing commercials for L'Oreal Shampoo. (2003) Has a Boston Celtics logo painted on the basketball court at his house.
• In the fall of 2003, he volunteered to spend several days with disabled children. Is a devoted fan of the baseball team Boston Red Sox Speaks Spanish.
• Dated 'Jennifer Lopez' [July 2002 - January 2004]
• Jennifer Lopez wrote the song "Dear Ben" about him and how much she loved him. With the exception of Clerks. (1994), he has appeared in all of Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse films.
• He learned to speak Arabic.

• "Sometimes it's Britney Spears, and sometimes it's Carrie Fisher. I can't tell if I have a Lolita Complex or an Oedipus Complex." - about the celebrity women the tabloids falsely link him to.
• "I feel like fame is wasted on me."
• On tabloid coverage of his life - "It feels like being in a soap opera that you were unwittingly cast in and you have no choice about it. I get to watch my life like everyone else and think 'I can't believe they did that'. And, for whatever reason, you become less special for movie audiences. It cheapens the brand if you want to look at it in a really crass sense.
• But I figure it has to go away at some point. Eventually someone will come along and have a sex tape or someone will play grab-ass with some kids and I'll be off page one."

Salary

Paycheck (2003)$15,000,000
Gigli (2003)$12,500,000
Daredevil (2003)$11,500,000 + gross participations
Sum of All Fears, The (2002)$12,500,000
Changing Lanes (2002)$10,000,000
Bounce (2000)$12,500,000
Reindeer Games (2000)$6,000,000
Armageddon (1998)$600,000
Good Will Hunting (1997)$300,000 (split $600,000 script sale with Matt Damon)
Chasing Amy (1997)$7,000
School Ties (1992)$30,000
Daddy (1991) (TV)$20,000