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 (nee' Boldt) 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 on the PBS mini-series "The Voyage of the Mimi" (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 "The Second Voyage of the Mimi" (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'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.
Filmography
2013 Runner, Runner (post-production)
2013 Live from the Red Carpet: The 2013 Academy Awards (TV movie)
2012 To the Wonder
2012 Argo
2010 The Town
2010 The Company Men
2009 Curb Your Enthusiasm (TV series)
2009 Extract
2009 State of Play
2009 He's Just Not That Into You
2006 Smokin' Aces
2006 Hollywoodland
2006 Clerks II
2006 Man About Town
2004 Surviving Christmas
2004 Jersey Girl
2003 Paycheck
2003 Gigli
2003 Daredevil
2002 The Third Wheel
2002 The Sum of All Fears
2002 Changing Lanes
2001 Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
2001 Daddy and Them
2001 Pearl Harbor
2001 Saturday Night Live (TV series)
2000 Bounce
2000 Joseph: King of Dreams (video)
2000 Reindeer Games
2000 SNL Fanatic (TV short)
2000 Boiler Room
1999 Dogma
1999 Forces of Nature
1999 200 Cigarettes
1998 Shakespeare in Love
1998 Armageddon
1998 Phantoms
1997 Good Will Hunting
1997 Office Killer
1997 Chasing Amy
1997 Going All the Way
1995 Glory Daze
1995 Mallrats
1994 Lifestories: Families in Crisis (TV series)
1993 Against the Grain (TV series)
1993 Dazed and Confused
1993 Almost Home (TV series)
1992 School Ties
1992 Buffy the Vampire Slayer
1991 Daddy (TV movie)
1989 Field of Dreams
1988 The Second Voyage of the Mimi (TV series)
1987 Hands of a Stranger (TV movie)
1986 ABC Afterschool Specials (TV series)
1984 The Voyage of the Mimi (TV series)
1981 The Dark End of the Street
