Two-time Academy Award winner Ben Affleck has steered towards directing. After making his directorial debut in 2007 with Gone Baby Gone, the actor claimed to have grown professionally with his experiences behind the lens. While he acknowledges that life behind the camera is quite different, he never imagined that casting one of his best friends would be so challenging.
In a recent interview, Affleck opened up about his endeavor to direct his long-time best buddy and Hollywood star Matt Damon in Affleck’s latest feature Air. The actor claimed that he was rather wary of himself as a director, given Damon’s smashing resume adorned by notable directors.
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Ben Affleck won Matt Damon’s trust
The two notable stars have spent their whole childhood together. The 51-year-old actor and Damon have been best friends since they were 10 and 8 years old respectively. The duo had even worked together in the critically acclaimed Good Will Hunting, of which they even co-drafted the screenplay. After having made it big in Hollywood, Affleck steered towards directing, having released five films already, and realized he never cast his best buddy.
Therefore, acting on it, Ben Affleck got Damon to play the lead role in 2023’s Air. It sounds easier than done. Affleck revealed in a recent interview with Variety, that their friendship was sidelined, and Damon had to trust Affleck as a director to be in the latter’s film. Talking Marvel star Michael B. Jordan on Variety’s Directors on Directors, Affleck shared,
“Matt has worked with like, Spielberg, Scorsese, the Coen Brothers…I’d say the roster of directors is the most impressive thing about his resume. It was like, okay, so now in his mind, he’s gonna kind of be holding me up against these other experiences. And there was the same dynamic that happens in other movies where, and you can’t really get around it, which is like, yeah, I’m your friend, I love you. If you’re gonna direct this movie, I have to trust you.”
Affleck understood that just because Matt Damon was his best friend, he couldn’t simply be in his movie, it had to be good. Thus, the duo worked through everything, and eventually, the Jason Bourne actor was convinced by Affleck’s directorial flair. Hence, Air cinematographer Bob Richardson reassured the Batman star with a compliment. Affleck recalled,
“he came over to me after like third or fourth day and he was like, ‘I think Matt trusts you now.’ And I was like, ‘I think so too.’ And I felt such a satisfaction from that because you’re not gonna get that free.”
Released on April 5, Air was unable to make a box-office splash. Regardless, it is being hailed as a financial success, having grossed $90 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo. With a budget of $90 million, the film hardly made any profits but was spotlighted for Affleck and Damon’s reunion on-screen after 2 years.
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Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s age-old friendship
An inspiring bond that exists in Hollywood is Matt Damon and Ben Affleck’s great friendship. While many believe there are no friends but only foes in a competitive industry like Hollywood, the star buddies have begged to differ. Damon and Affleck grew up together in Cambridge, Massachusetts, living only blocks away. They became best friends as mere kids, and have stuck through thick and thin together.
However, Damon disclosed that he was forced to be friends with Affleck initially, which later on blossomed into this life-long connection, per HOLA! Moreover, soon the buddies even began auditioning together. In an interview with Parade Magazine, Affleck shared,
“All of a sudden I had this friend, Matt, and he gets it and wants to do it and thinks it’s interesting and wants to talk about it. Soon both of us are doing it.”
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Damon and Affleck have remained close buddies ever since, also professionally working alongside each other in movies like Dogma, The Last Duel, and more. How soon until we get a movie about their unique bond?
