Ben Affleck is an Academy Award winning director, talented actor and best known for his role in Good Will Hunting and Argo. Here are 50 interesting things you probably didn't know about this actor.
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Ben was born on August 15, 1972 in Berkeley, California, USA, and was raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
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His full name is Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt.
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His father, Tim Affleck, is a social worker, and his mother, Chris Affleck (née Boldt), is a school teacher.
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His ancestry includes English, Irish, German, Scottish, Northern Irish (Scots-Irish), French, and Swedish. His maternal great-grandfather, Joseph Raymond Boldt, was born in Rhode Island, to German immigrants.
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He has a younger brother, Casey, who is also an actor.
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When Affleck asked his mom for a dog as a kid, she made him walk an imaginary one for a week."When he came up two days short, he didn't get a dog," she said in an interview. "That was harsh. It was wise, but harsh."
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Since a young boy, he always wanted to be an actor and his first foray into the business was through a Burger King commercial.
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He then got a gig at a PBS mini-series called The Voyage of the Mimi. The 13-episode educational program follows the crew of the Mimi exploring the ocean. "I was [a kid] when I did this science show," he told Entertainment Weekly in 2007. "Sometimes I think I grew up too fast."
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While on set, he met his life-long friend Matt Damon. He actually lived just 10 blocks away from him.
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The boys later attended the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School,where they both took drama classes.
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He dropped out of the University of Vermont after one semester.
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Affleck also dropped out of Occidental College after 1 year, where he had studied Middle Eastern studies.
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Ben made his big introduction into feature films in 1993 when he was cast in Dazed and Confused in 1993.
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He was an extra with friend Matt Damon in Field of Dreams in 1989.
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He appeared in a prop photo used in the movie Mermaids in 1990.
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He starred in some independent movies but the gigs were not rolling in. After living with his brother Casey and Matt Damon - all were struggling to find work. They then decided to write their own script which one of their best decisions! Affleck and Damon wrote Good Will Hunting and Castlerock later bought.
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His father was at one time a janitor at Harvard University, the inspiration for Will Hunting's job at MIT in Good Will Hunting.
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Unfortunately, Castlerock did not want to give them the control they wanted over the movie. Thanks to their friend, Kevin Smith, he sold the script to Miramax and gave them the control they wanted.
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They sold the script for $600,000.
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The film was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and won two, including Best Original Screenplay for Ben and Matt.
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Good Will Hunting was Ben's breakthrough role, in which he was given for the first time the ability to select the roles instead of having to go through grueling auditions constantly.
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In 1998, he starred in the successful blockbuster Armageddon, and landed a part in the Academy Award-winning film Shakespeare in Love.
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Affleck made headlines when he began a high-profile romance with Gwyneth Paltrow, his co-star in the film Shakespeare in Love. The couple announced their break-up in late 1998, but they remained good friends.
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He voluntarily entered Promises Rehabilitation Center in Malibu, California for alcohol abuse.
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Charlie Sheen drove him to the rehab center.
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As a young boy, he always loved the Marvel Comic book character Daredevil. He got to play the character in the 2003 movie.
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He had four different stunt men for Daredevil (2003), each one with a different specialty (fighting, wire works, etc.). He tried to do as much of his own stunts as he possibly could, feeling that it would add more credibility to the film.
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He was ranked #41 in Premiere's 2003 annual Power 100 List.
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Affleck received $1.5 million dollars for doing commercials for L'Oreal Shampoo in 2003.
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Before the popularity of reality tv, him and then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez were the closest to reality tv at that time in 2003. They became known as "Bennifer" in tabloid magazines. He never enjoyed all the media buzz they received.
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Lopez wrote the song "Dear Ben" about him and how much she loved him.
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In 2004, Affleck gave Jennifer a $2.5 million 6.1-carat pink diamond ring. They starred in the film flop Gigli and in Jersey Girl. He won two Golden Razzies for Worst Actor and Worst Screen Couple for Gigli.
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They later broke up citing too much media attention and she gave back the ring.
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Affleck has more in common with back-up dancer Cris Judd than just a relationship with Jennifer Lopez: They share the same August 15th birthday.
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Ben didn't stay single for long, he married Jennifer Garner that same year. The couple have two daughters and one son together.
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Affleck partnered with friend Matt Damon again and founded the production company LivePlanet. The duo produced the documentary series, Project Greenlight, which gave aspiring screenwriters the opportunity to produce their creative visions. The show earned three Emmy nominations for an Outstanding Reality Program.
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He is 6' 3½" (1.92 m) tall.
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Ben Affleck once told USA Today, "Beautiful women scare me." However, he's dated many beautiful Hollywood stars.
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Affleck covered a tattoo of his high school sweetheart's name with a dolphin.
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He frequently plays arrogant and ruthless characters
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Affleck was once fined $135 for driving in Massachusetts with a suspended license.
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He is an avid gamer and owns vintage Ms. Pac-Man and Millipede video-arcade games.
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Ben owns five motorcycles.
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Affleck was chosen as one of People Magazine's Most Beautiful People in the World.
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He is a very good impressionist and is known to do them during interviews.
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He is such a huge Boston Celtics, he had the logo painted on the basketball court at his house.
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He can speaks Spanish and French.
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He is an avid fan of Robert Englund.
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Affleck began an intense two-hour a day workout regime the day after he was cast as Batman in 2013.
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He is the only actor to wear both a Batman suit and Superman suit in two different films.