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Recently Released In Theaters Reviews
Milk Defiance The Spirit Bedtime Stories Valkyrie Revolutionary Road Marley & Me Last Chance Harvey The Curious Case of Benjamin Button The Tale of Despereaux Yes Man The Wrestler Seven Pounds The Day the Earth Stood Still Doubt Recently Added Spotlights Tom Cruise Bryan Singer Leonardo DiCaprio Kate Winslet Kathy Bates Gabriel Macht Eva Mendes Samuel L. Jackson Scarlett Johansson Kate Winslet David Kross Sean Penn James Franco Robert Pattinson Daniel Craig |
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Interview by: Alysa Salzberg
*Click Here For Another Interview with Ben Affleck This holiday season, we’ve seen films of all genres rush, fly, and edge their way into multiplexes. In a recent interview, Ben Affleck tells us about his hopes (maybe one day he’ll be telling other actors what to do), his personal life (including information about a certain someone whose name starts with “J” and ends with “Lo”), and why his latest movie, the John Woo-directed action thriller Paycheck, is a cinematic offering that shouldn’t be forgotten in the shuffle. In the film, Affleck plays Michael Jennings, an engineer developing government projects so top secret that he agrees to have his memory of working on each one erased once he’s finished it. But one day, his memory is wiped cleaner than usual. Why was he made to completely forget the past three years? With nothing but an envelope full of items he left himself as clues, Michael must piece together his past, a past someone doesn’t want him to figure out. Ben himself is hard to forget. Charismatic and sarcastic, handsome and self-deprecating, in person the actor is charming, witty, and articulate, putting to bed all the jokes you’ve heard about his being the lesser half of the Affleck-Damon duo. In between answering questions about his new movie, he peppers his conversation with sound effects, side comments, and jokes – jokes that will often make even the most jaded of interviewers do a double take. For example, when asked what he and Michael, the character he plays in Paycheck, have in common, Ben raises an eyebrow, leisurely leans into the microphone, and says: “Most of what [Michael] was was a guy who was sort of trying to discover himself and didn’t remember three years of his life, and you know, I used to drink a bit, so I know what that’s like.” He pauses to let it sink in, and then, just when you’re wondering whether maybe it really wasn’t a joke, Affleck lets his famous grin languidly stretch itself over his face. “No, I’m kidding.” Speaking seriously, the actor explains that he identifies with his role in the film because Michael is someone who “makes trade-offs for his work and [is] very focused” on what he does for a living. As Affleck goes on, this similarity between actor and character becomes more and more apparent. One of the typical trade-offs celebrities must make is, let’s say, a certain lack of privacy. Though this is an interview about his work, questions about Ben’s personal life can’t help but creep in. Are he and J-Lo still seeing each other? Will there be a wedding in their future, after all? The actor takes the questions with all the patience of a very glamorized, media-savvy Job. First, he jokes that he and good friend Matt Damon will get married on New Year’s Day, then shakes his ... |
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