A child actor who shot to stardom in his twenties, Affleck is as well known for his off-screen antics — high-profile romances, a stint in rehab and a perpetually suspicious hairline — as his on-screen performances. In the '80s the athletic actor appeared in a number of TV-movies before making it to the big screen, notably as an anti-Semitic jock in the 1992 teen drama
School Ties, costarring his future collaborator Matt Damon. In 1995 he appeared in
Mallrats, his first of many Kevin Smith flicks, but 1997 was Affleck's breakthrough year (with a lot of help from his friends). First he won raves as a comic-book artist in love with a lesbian in Smith's
Chasing Amy. Then he and Damon cowrote and costarred in the drama
Good Will Hunting, which earned the duo an Oscar for best screenplay. The two went on to produce the popular filmmaking reality series
Project Greenlight. Affleck then took on leading roles in films of all genres — action (
Armageddon), romantic comedy (
Forces of Nature), drama (
Pearl Harbor) — but he was often pretty stiff. Yet he remained in the limelight thanks to a string of tabloid-ready relationships, first with
Shakespeare in Love costar Gwyneth Paltrow, then with former fiancée Jennifer Lopez. Dubbed "Bennifer," the couple was stalked by the paparazzi until 2004, when they finally called it quits after starring together in two failed movies (
Gigli and Smith's
Jersey Girl). However, Affleck was able to recycle the Bennifer moniker when he began dating his
Daredevil costar, Jennifer Garner, that same year. The two married and had a daughter in 2005.
Ben Affleck Fast Facts:
- Appeared in Kevin Smith's Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back as both a caricature of himself, and Holden, a character from a previous Smith film, Chasing Amy.
- Vigorously campaigned for Al Gore and John Kerry and appeared at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.
- Testified before Congress in support of funding medical research for Ataxia-Telangiectasia after befriending a young boy who suffered from the degenerative disease.
- An avid card player who has appeared on Celebrity Poker Showdown.
- Ben Affleck Relationships:
- Casey Affleck - Brother
- Chris Affleck - Mother
- Gwyneth Paltrow - Ex-significant Other
- Indiana August Affleck - Nephew
- Jennifer Garner - Wife
- Jennifer Lopez - Ex-fiancée
- Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck - Daughter
- Timothy Affleck - Father
- Violet Anne Affleck - Daughter
- Ben Affleck Awards:
- 2007 Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture - Nominee
- 1998 Golden Globe: Best Screenplay - Motion Picture - Winner
- 2005 Emmy: Outstanding Reality Program - Nominee
- 1997 Oscar: Best Writing (Original Screenplay) - Winner
- 2002 Emmy: Outstanding Non-Fiction Program (Reality) - Nominee
- 2004 Emmy: Outstanding Reality Program - Nominee
- College:
- Attended University of Vermont, Burlington, VT; attended Occidental College, Eagle Rock, CA
