Ben Affleck on stardom, settling down, and working with best buddy Matt Damon
By Sheryl Berk
Ever since their 1997 Oscar for Good Will Hunting, no matter what Ben Affleck and Matt Damon do solo, it's hard to envision them as anything but in-cahoots. Any time one of them is mentioned, the other's name comes up. So, is it fluke - or fate - that Affleck and Damon are both starring this summer in spy thrillers based on bestselling book series? Affleck plays Jack Ryan in The Sum Of All Fears, while Damon is Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity.
"I know what it looks like," Affleck admits, "that we somehow planned it this way. But I swear it just kind of happened. The fact that the movies were released around the same time was just a bizarre coincidence. I mean, there aren't all that many weekends in the summer, right?"
Actually, Affleck doesn't seem to mind having most of America think of him as half of the Ben-and-Matt team. "We've known each other since we were 8 or 9," he says of his longtime pal/writing partner. And they intend to be part of each other's future: Between their individual acting jobs, they're thinking up new projects under their multimedia production company LivePlanet. "We'll be writing together for a long, long time," Affleck predicts. "We're on the same page because we share a lot of the same life experiences. It's nice to have someone who understands where you're coming from."
Benjamin Geza Affleck was born on August 15, 1972, in an Oakland, California, hospital. His father, Tim, had a range of jobs, from auto mechanic and electrician to bartender and janitor (he is now a photographer and a counsellor at a California drug rehabilitation center), while his mother, Chris was (and still is) a school teacher. His family lived briefly in Berkeley, California, before moving to Massachusetts when Affleck was 2. "My brother, Casey, was born in Falmouth shortly before my third birthday," Affleck recalls. "We knew he was coming, so my parents threw a party for me three days early so I wouldn't miss it. But Casey decided to steal the show anyway: Right in the middle of my party, we had to rush to the hospital.
At age 5, the family moved to Cambridge and young Ben attended the public schools where his mom taught. But it was acting - not academics - that mainly interested him. "My father had a theater background - he worked with a theater company in Boston before I was born. He and my mom had a lot of friends who were actors, and I was around them all the time and it rubbed off." One of his mother's college friends ran a local casting company in Boston, and her husband was an independent movie director. He needed a 7-year-old boy for a film and Affleck volunteered. "After that, I wanted to do more. Maybe I was precocious; maybe I was just fooling around."
When a casting call went out for a PBS kids educational show called The Voyage of the Mimi, Affleck tried out for the part - and landed it. "I don't think at the time I had any clue how lucky I was," he says. "I didn't realize that most people audition and don't get the role." The pilot was shot in Maine, and the science and math series eventually got funding and a go-ahead. Around this time, the Afflecks divorced, leaving Chris to raise her sons single-handedly. When it was decided that season two of Mimi would be shot in Mexico, Ben's mom accompanied him on location.
"She was great - she was tutoring me. It was always very important to her that I have as normal a childhood as possible," Affleck says. Before the shoot was over, Chris got pneumonia and had to go home. She was assured that Ben would be safe and supervised, but "I was pretty much on my own down there, getting into trouble. I was earning money and I had my own hotel room; I thought I was all grown-up and had all the answers. Mr. Big Shot at 13."
When the series ended, Affleck returned home and started his freshman year at Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School. He began to plot a path to Hollywood and enlisted the support of an old elementary-school friend, whom he nicknamed Matty D. Affleck and Damon would hold "business lunches" in the cafeteria and go to New York on auditions (Affleck even helped Damon find an agent). "In high school, our friendship got more intense as we realized how much we both had similar goals," Affleck says. "We had these fantasies about all the things we were going to do, and they were all sort of silly and romantic and half-baked. We never really imagined that any of them would come true."
One of those "half-baked" fantasies began with a 40-page script that Damon wrote in his Harvard playwriting class in 1992. Affleck had dropped out of the University of Vermont to pursue acting and was struggling in L.A. ("barely able to pay the $300 a month for a one-bedroom hole") when Damon sent the story to him. The pair agreed it had the makings of a great movie - and they were right. It eventually became Good Will Hunting.
"It probably had a million different incarnations," says Affleck. "I was 19 when we wrote the first version. There was one where my character was supposed to die. One where the government was after Will." The project sat on the back burner as Affleck found his niche in independent films. Damon continued to act as well, but both were frustrated with the lack of quality roles being offered to them. They returned to their script, eventually completing 1500 pages.
"We would just sit around BS-ing and kicking things back and forth," Affleck says. "We'd talk it out and it would fall into place. I think we have a great dynamic. In our case, two heads are definitely better than one."
They gave the finished script to their agent who showed it to a few studios. It was accepted by Castle Rock for $600,000. "It was like we won the lottery," Damon once remarked. But a year later, the project remained in limbo - the studio wasn't willing to give Affleck and Damon the creative control they wanted (not only did they want to star in the film, they wanted it shot on location in their native Boston). It took clout and connections to turn things around: Damon had just starred in Francis Ford Coppola's The Rainmaker and was suddenly on Hollywood's radar screen; Affleck's director/friend Kevin Smith was willing to take the script to top execs. It was Miramax's Harvey Weinstein who saved the day and agreed to pick up Good Will Hunting for $1 million.
"Harvey really believed in us and told us it was okay to take some more risks, to go with it," says Affleck. "So we had the opportunity to write the story that we really wanted to write, as opposed to what we thought somebody else would like."
The film was a hit, both critically and at the box office, pulling in a total of $229 million worldwide. It was nominated for nine Academy Awards; it received the Oscar for Best Screenplay, and Robin Williams won Best Supporting Actor. "That night, I remember feeling like I had just been in a car accident," Affleck says. "It was that same feeling of shock, of 'What just happened?' I remember Billy Crystal did his song montage to open the show and we were part of it. He was singing 'Matt and Ben, Ben and Matt,' and I turned to Matt and went, 'Man, this is crazy! Surreal!' I mean, we were a joke that people got. And then Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau announced our category, opened the envelope, and read our names. I expected As Good As It Gets to win, but instead, it was us. All I know is I staggered up there - it was like this weird out-of-body thing followed by exuberance and screaming my head off."
From that day forward, Ben and Matt were Hollywood legend: the 25- and 27-year-old writing wunderkinder who won Oscars their first time out of the gate. Along with the notoriety came the trappings of stardom. Affleck bought homes on both coasts (a three-story Hollywood Hills spread complete with five motorcycles and two Cadillacs, and a New York City pad outfitted with his favorite vintage arcade games) plus a house in Cape Cod for his mom. He even dated an It Girl - Gwyneth Paltrow - for over a year (they're still friends) and has been linked in the tabloids with (among others) Mariah Carey, Chelsea Clinton, Sandra Bullock, and Britney Spears (For the record, he has denied being involved with any of them). He also went through a period of partying too hard and, a year ago, decided it was time to get his life back on track. These days, he's much more future-focused and serious.
"If I were to guess what the next 10 years of my life would be, I would think they'd involve less acting, particularly the kind of acting that requires you to do a bunch of publicity, the kind that changes the quality of your life as a person," he says. "Eventually, I think I'll tone down the degree to which I expose my whole life to the world and put myself out there. If I was doing less of that, I feel it would be more conducive to settling down, getting married, and having a family. That's important to me."
What's also important is the quality of his work, although it doesn't hurt to command upwards of $12 million a picture. Since Good Will Hunting, he has starred in more than 10 films, including Shakespeare In Love, Armageddon, Bounce, Pearl Harbor, and Changing Lanes. Affleck insists it's the story, not the paycheque that convinces him to sign on the dotted line. Case in point: The Sum Of All Fears. He knew the role of Jack Ryan, hero of Tom Clancy's popular novels, came with baggage. "Two fine, fine actors, Harrison Ford [in Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games] and Alec Baldwin [in The Hunt For Red October], already played Ryan. You know people will always be comparing you - there will be guys on the Internet discussing how I measure up. What can you do? Just your best and be true to the story."
"It was very courageous of him," says the film's director Phil Alden Robinson, who describes Affleck as "a member of the team, a people person, a hugger. He's genuinely a modest fellow who gives it his all. The fact that it was a challenge only makes him work harder."
What appealed to Affleck was the concept of creating Ryan's early years - giving new depth to the character. The film is a prequel to the other three: Ryan must confront terrorists who have possession of a nuclear weapon they plan to detonate at the Super Bowl.
"This is a different Jack Ryan," he explains. "He doesn't have all the answers; he doesn't have it all together. He hadn't yet become the U.S. Intelligence superhero. He's starting out, just getting his feet wet. He writes this paper and it takes on a life of its own. That, I could identify with, because that's how it was for me with Good Will Hunting. You write something, it takes off, and you're sort of whisked along with it. Ryan's not sure where he'll wind up, where this will lead him, but he's going with it. He's going along for the ride."
Ben's Big Business
In June 2000, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore and Sean Bailey founded LivePlanet, a company that "creates entertainment experiences that break down the barriers between traditional media, new media, and the physical world." Translation? The foursome and their team come up with outrageously creative, one-of-a-kind projects that allow audience members to not only participate (through TV, film, wireless, the Web, etc.) but in many ways, influence the final outcome.
It all started with Project Greenlight, a 13-episode documentary series on HBO last year that chronicled the nuts and bolts of making an independent feature film. Matt and Ben announced an Internet competition, and 10,000 aspiring filmmakers sent in their scripts. From them, Pete Jones' Stolen Summer was chosen as the winner, and Miramax agreed to foot the bill to produce it (it was released this past spring).
"I hope that young writers are encouraged by us," Affleck says. "And as long as our partners, HBO and Miramax, are ready and willing, we want to keep it going. We want more first-timers to have this great opportunity."
Also in the works is Push, Nevada, a 13-episode ABC TV series that blends elements of fact and faction, drama and reality. The show centers on a series of strange events that occur around a missing seven-figure sum of money. By following the show - and participating online - audience members garner clues that will lead them to a genuine bankroll hidden somewhere in the U.S.
"The idea of LivePlanet is to change the way you can tell a story, and to chance the degree of involvement the audience can have with it," explains Affleck. He expects LivePlanet's wild ideas to raise a few eyebrows: "You have a much higher risk of failure when you're doing something that's never been done before. But that's also the fun of it, the excitement, and to me, the most fulfilling thing I can do in my career."
Fall had always been one of Skog’s favorite seasons.
It isn’t hot and just bordering on cold, giving him an excuse to wear the sweaters his mom makes him, and when he wears suits, he doesn’t feel like he is in an oven. He loves the colors of the plant life as the leaves fall, and the warm smell of spices in the air.
To him, fall is quiet and comfortable, but the same could not be said about his boyfriend.
Glib Murphy was in his last year of getting his Ph.D. in Magical Probability, which is time-consuming enough, but he is also Ranger Blue of the Rangers of Power. The Rangers of Power, as Skog understands it, are the magical police of the area, chosen by artifacts left by the founders. Years ago, when the concept was explained to the businessman, he had no earthly idea why a college town would need magically-selected guards to protect it until he visited the town and saw giant clay monsters destroying the buildings only to get held back by these magic police.
For some reason, every year the monsters become less frequent during the summer months, as if giving the rangers a break before coming back twice as hard during the fall. Combine the increase of monsters and the new classes of the fall semester and Glib is absolutely wiped by the time he makes it home. If he makes it home, that is. There have been many days where he passes out in the library while doing school work, or in the streets after fighting a monster.
But today, he makes it home. Skog hears him stumble through the door from the study where he is sitting in front of the crackling fireplace, reading The Complete History of Sailing in Vontral in his tall back red chair with a cup of honey lavender tea and eating handfuls of chocolate, cherries, and almonds.
“Skog?” Glib calls weakly, accompanied by the sound of his backpack thunking to the floor and his stumbling footsteps.
Skog notes what page he is on before placing his book on the table next to him, gently wakes their two sleeping cats -Anchor and Squid, black and grey brothers that Glib begged Skog to bring home, and Skog is weak to resist his pleas- in his lap, and swiftly stands up. “In here, Glib,” the orc says as he walks to the doorway. Skog pauses as he examines his lovely boyfriend who is battered and bruised; coated in clay, dirt, and blood; exhausted to the point of near delirium; but he is home in one piece. “Welcome home, my love,” Skog says as he crosses the room in two strides to the smaller.
“Hey,” Glib says tiredly. Skog reaches out to hug him and Glib leans away. “I’m fuckin’ coated in monster slime,” he explains. “You’ve got a nice suit on, I don’t wanna ruin it with this bullshit.”
“There are cleaning charms for a reason, Glib,” Skog says as he scoops the smaller up and into a tight hug, the fight leaving Glib’s body immediately. His hands tighten into the pinstripe shirt and his legs weakly wrap around Skog’s hips, clinging to his boyfriend as tightly as he can.
“I need a shower,” Glib says into Skog's shirt.
The orc nods and carries him up the stairs and into the master bathroom. Using one hand he holds up his boyfriend while the other starts a warm bath. He picks up a bottle of a viscous teal liquid and pours it into the filling tub, the liquid almost immediately turning into white bubbles.
“Bubble bath? Really? I’m not fucking five,” Glib grumbles as he watches Skog work, face pressed into the larger’s shoulder.
The orc pauses and looks down at him. “Would you like me to take out the bubbles?”
There is a long pause before Glib quietly says “No.”
Skog smiles as he continues setting up the bath.
Once the bubbles are at an acceptable level and soaps, towels, and pajamas are laid out, Skog gently detaches Glib from his hip, though with some effort as the vampire clings to him.
“Do you want to bathe on your own or would you like me to help?” Skog questions after Glib’s feet are steady (enough) on the floor. He knows the answer, but he wants confirmation before he does anything.
“I want you to help,” Glib says tiredly, his eyes already drooping closed.
Skog gives him a kind smile as his hands drop to the front of Glib’s clothes and lingers on the bottom of his shirt, waiting for Glib’s approval before pulling it over his head and gently ridding him of the rest of his garments. Dirt and monster clay fall from him in chunks, and the smaller is clearly fighting the urge to scratch at the irritating substances coating his pale skin. The orc tries to keep the worry from his face as he sees all of the cuts and bruises littering all of his thin body. Some of these are probably days old and certainly not treated properly. Skog elects to deal with one problem at a time as he places his hand on Glib’s shoulder, leading him to the bathtub and helping him step in.
The smaller practically melts into the water, the stress and anxiety instantly getting lifted as the water surrounds him. He makes a pitiful but happy noise as Skog begins to wash his hair, relaxing fully into his boyfriend’s touch. Once the day's worth of grime is pulled from his brown hair, the orc moves on to washing the rest of his body, using the medicated body wash -given to him by Specs- around the wounds and Glib’s favorite scent everywhere else.
Skog cleans and double-cleans Glib’s entire body before deciding that he is spotless. He gingerly lifts the younger from the now brownish-greenish-redish water and towels him dry.
Getting the vampire clothed is harder than removing the ruined garments because he is almost completely limp in the orc’s hold.
“Love,” Skog says gently once his fuzzy blue pajamas are secured onto him.
“Hm?” Glib asks, barely lifting his head in acknowledgment, his eyes staying glued shut.
“You can’t fall asleep yet, you need to eat first,” the orc chides quietly, using his large fingers to tilt Glib’s head up. The vampire blinks blearily at him before slowly nodding. Skog gives him a soft smile before picking him back up and carrying him back downstairs.
They reenter the study, Squid darting around Skog’s feet, meowing and purring for attention while Anchor barely lifts his head in acknowledgment.
“Yes, yes, hello, Squid,” the orc grumbles. “I promise he’s fine, now will you please-” He picks the cat up with his foot and gently sets him to the side, “Get out of my way.”
Squid makes a “mrrph” noise as he’s moved, but dutifully keeps away from the orc’s feet, choosing instead to settle on the warm stones of the fireplace.
“Hello, Anchor,” Skog says as he looks down at the cat lying in his seat.
Anchor slow-blinks at him.
“Will you remove yourself from my seat?”
Anchor stares at him for a long moment before slowly getting up and stretching as she walks to join her sister by the fire.
“Thank you,” he calls to the cat before carefully settling in his seat, taking great care to not crush his boyfriend’s legs. Glib is completely lax against the bigger. “Glib,” he says softly.
The vampire groans in response.
“Can you sit up for a moment?”
He weakly nods as he leans back, tittering with imbalance, and never opens his eyes.
Skog picks up a vial from the table, it looking tiny in his large hand as it is no bigger than his little finger. It glows with a soft red glow and pulses warmly as the pink liquid swirls and glitters inside. He pulls the cork from it, the smell of candy filling the air. He gingerly presses it to Glib’s lips and the small opens his mouth just enough for Skog to pour the liquid into his mouth. Once the liquid is gone from the bottle, the deeper wounds begin to heal over as the smaller ones fade away completely.
As the healing potion does its work, the orc sets to work on his clothes. With nimble fingers, Skog takes off his suit jacket and undoes his button-up, and discards both to the floor.
“Alright, you can lay back down.” Skog doesn’t even get to finish the words before Glib is falling, full force, into him. The orc lets him relax for a minute, rubbing soothing circles into his back before he asks, “Have you eaten today, my love?”
“What do you think?” Glib snaps before immediately following it with, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”
“You didn’t mean to snap,” Skog finishes. “I’m aware, and I’m not mad. You’re tired.” Glib nods slowly against his shoulder. “Now, can you answer my question? Have you eaten today?”
“No,” he says quietly.
Skog moves one of his hands to the back of Glib’s head and moves it to the base of his neck.
“You sure?” Glib asks even though his fangs are already brushing the jugular vein.
“Always,” Skog says, fingers playing with the damp hair of his boyfriend. “Orcs were bred for war and fighting, it's good for me to bleed.”
Glib, satisfied that their little ritual has been completed, bites down, lapping up the sweet blood instantly. He hums in appreciation of the hints of lavender and honey tea paired with almonds, cherries, and chocolate. Skog picks his book up off the table and flips back to his page, reading while Glib has his dinner. This goes on for nearly five minutes before Glib slowly pulls off and grabs the rag from the table and blots the blood.
“Are you sure that’s enough?” Skog asks, leaning up to kiss the vampire’s cheek as he takes the rag from his hand and cleans the wound himself.
After the first few times they had done this, Glib stopped pulling off before he was full. It took much reassurance, but Skog was able to convince Glib that he really didn’t mind the activity, especially since it kept Glib healthy drinking from a live source.
Glib nods as he settles back into the orc’s hold, laying his head on Skog’s broad shoulder.
The older simply reads while he waits for Glib to fall slack in his arms, but after several minutes, the vampire is still awake and looking up at him with slightly glassy eyes.
“Is something wrong, love?” Skog asks, putting the book back on the table.
“Why?” Glib says quietly, staring up at the older as if he has all the answers in the world.
“Because you should be asleep by now, but you look like you want to cry?” he answers with a cocked eyebrow.
“No, I mean why do this?” the smaller asks, voice small and weak, shaking and boarding on cracking.
“Do what?”
“Take care of me,” Glib says as tears begin to fall from his dark green eyes, nearly glowing red in the low light. “Why put in all this fucking effort when you know you’ll just have to do it all over again in a few days?”
That catches Skog off guard. He looks at his lover for several seconds, choosing his words carefully before deciding on a simple, “I love you and I want you to be healthy.”
“But why?” Glib laments, tears falling faster. “You work all day and then have to come home and take care of me because I can’t fucking take care of myself!”
The orc buries his hand in Glib’s hair and plays with it while the vampire cries, full-body sobs wracking his body.
“Why? Why?” he asks over and over, a mantra to calm his mind while his nails dig into the fabric of Skog’s undershirt and draw blood from his thick skin.
Skog waits until Glib is less hysterical and says simply, “Because I like taking care of you. It's how I prefer to destress.”
“But why? I barely talk and- and I rely completely on you for fucking everything-” A sob rips from him and breaks his sentence. It takes several moments before he has his composure back and can say anything more. “It's just a fucking chore for you.”
“No, it’s not just a chore to me,” Skog corrects quietly but firmly. “Nothing is a chore when it comes to you.”
“But my parents-”
“Am I your parents?” Skog interrupts. Glib shakes his head. “To them, you may have been a chore, but not to me, not when it’s you.”
Glib lays limply against the bigger, his tears still wetting the front of Skog’s shirt.
“I love you,” he says quietly.
The orc smiles at him. “I love you too.”
There is silence for a minute before Glib says it again, voice a little more stable, “I love you.”
Skog dips his head down and kisses the top of the vampire’s head. “I love you too, more than anything.” He cuddles with the human for a little longer before picking his book back up and settling back into their night routine.
“I love you,” Glib says one last time as his eyes droop closed, the exhaustion of the day finally catching up to him.
“I love you too. Now get some sleep,” Skog responds softly. There is a quiet hum from the smaller before he is completely still against the larger. Without doing the motions of breathing, the vampire is effectively a corpse.
Skog waits for another few minutes, deciding to complete his chapter before standing up with his sleeping husband.
“Come on Squid, Anchor, let’s go to bed,” he says quietly as walks towards the stairs, the pair of cats hot on his heels.
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