Ben Affleck is one of the biggest names in the Hollywood industry. The actor got his breakthrough with his Oscar-winning film, Good Will Hunting. He rose to stardom with his superhero character Batman in the DC Extended Universe. Some hit films of the actor include Gone Girl, Deep Water, Justice League, Air, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, and others. However, there was one film that almost got him killed.
Being an action hero, one has to perform several stunts, which may sometimes cause bruises or sore muscles. However, no one is prepared for a mishap which can create life-threatening situations.
Ben Affleck’s Space Suit malfunctioned during the Armageddon shoot
Ben Affleck played the protagonist alongside Bruce Willis in Armageddon, produced and directed by Michael Bay. It was a science fiction disaster film that was based on a group of blue-collar deep-core drillers. They were sent by NASA, to stop a massive asteroid that was about to collide with Earth. For the film, Ben Affleck and the other main actors had to wear proper spacesuits, which was a difficult task.
The cast and crew of the film got exhausted from the shoot due to the complicated sets, the extreme locations, and the long duration of the shoot. However, during one of the shots, Ben Affleck started struggling to breathe, as his costume malfunctioned.
Michael Bay recalled in a conversation with Collider,
“Armageddon was 120 days because you’re putting the space suits.”
Bay explained of the lengthy shoot,
“Each spacesuit needed five people. Craziest crap in the world. Let me explain that. The first day, Ben Affleck, way down, we wrecked, we’re shooting in the Badlands in the Dakotas. I got a microphone or whatever for the actors. They’re walking out of a plane crash, and wind machines, 100-mile-an-hour winds. And all of a sudden, I see Ben Affleck trying to hit his face shield. They had real NASA locks on their helmets.”
Bay explained the real problem with the costume,
“I’m like, ‘Cut, cut, cut. What’s going on? Ben, what’s going on?’ So we have to run literally like a football field toward it. And he was trying to find a rock to bust his mask because he couldn’t breathe because the air thing was shut.”
The sci-fi film was a commercial success and became the highest-grossing film of 1998.
Ben Affleck and Michael Bay had differences on sets of Armageddon
With the success of Good Will Hunting, Affleck was widely recognized, for his scriptwriting skills. He was unsure about the plausibility of oil riggers getting trained to be NASA astronauts. The actor shared his doubts with the director. However, his ideas were rejected by Bay.
Ben Affleck explained,
“I asked Michael why it was easier to train oil drillers to become astronauts than it was to train astronauts to become oil drillers, and he told me to shut the f**k up. So that was the end of that talk.
Affleck went on to state in his best Bay impression,
“‘You know, Ben, just shut up, OK? You know, this is a real plan.’ I was like, ‘You mean it’s a real plan at NASA to train oil drillers?’ And he was like, ‘Just shut your mouth!'”
Fortunately for Ben Affleck, Bruce Willis, and others, the film was a success. It grossed $553 million worldwide against a $140 million budget.
Armageddon is available for streaming on Max.
Also read- Why Michael Bay’s Armageddon Is A Much Better Movie Than You Remember
Source- Collider
