Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck (born Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt, 15.8.1972)

Ben Affleck is an American actor, screenwriter and director. His younger brother is the actor Casey Affleck. Ben Affleck first rose to prominence in the 1990s, with his appearance in Kevin Smith's Mallrats and has since earned himself an Oscar for his role in Good Will Hunting.

Ben Affleck: Childhood

Ben Affleck was born in Berkeley, California. His mother, Christine, is a teacher and his father, Timothy, has been a drugs counselor, social worker, mechanic and a janitor. He was also formerly an actor, with the Theatre Company of Boston.

The Affleck family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts when Ben was young and his parents divorced in 1984.

When he was 10 years old, Ben Affleck met Matt Damon, who lived in his neighbourhood and the pair have remained friends since. Both actors attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. Affleck later attended the University of Vermont.

Ben Affleck: Acting Career

As a child, Affleck worked on The Voyage of Mimi, a kid's TV series. He also appeared in a number of television movies and in the 1990s, he landed roles in Lifestories: Families in Crisis and a number of films, including School Ties (1992), which also featured Brendan Fraser and Matt Damon.

In 1993, Affleck appeared alongside Parker Posey and Matthew McConaughey in Richard Linklater's left-field coming-of age comedy, Dazed and Confused.

The early 1990s also marked the start of Affleck's collaboration with the director Kevin Smith, appearing in 1995's Chasing Amy and 1997's Mallrats. He later went on to take the lead in Jersey Girl, another of Smith's projects.

After getting a small one-line part in the Buffy the Vampire Slayer film, Affleck went on to work once again with his friend Matt Damon, in Good Will Hunting. The film, which also starred Robin Williams and Minnie Driver, won the Best Original Screenplay Academy Award.

Following the success of Good Will Hunting, Ben Affleck landed a number of successful starring roles in films such as Armageddon, Pearl Harbor and Changing Lanes. However, his career soon took something of a nosedive, with the release of box office flops such as Gigli, in which he co-starred with his girlfriend at the time, Jennifer Lopez. His festive release, Surviving Christmas suffered a similar fate in the hands of movie critics and the cinema-going public.

In 2006, Ben Affleck staged a comeback with the film Hollywoodland, a biopic about the life of George Reeves. His performance won him the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.

The following year, Ben Affleck made his directorial debut with Gone, Baby, Gone, which starred his brother, Casey Affleck. That year, he also starred in Smokin' Aces, after which he gave up smoking, having been forced to smoke so heavily during the filming of the movie.

Ben Affleck: Personal Life

In 1998, when Gwyneth Paltrow had finished dating Brad Pitt, she had a high profile relationship with Ben Affleck, though the romance was short-lived.

In 2002, Affleck began dating Jennifer Lopez. Their engagement was announced that same year. Their relationship was constantly under the media's spotlight but the couple never made it to their wedding, which had been planned for September 2004. They split up prior to that date.

Following his relationship with Lopez, Affleck dated his Daredevil co-star, Jennifer Garner. In May 2005, Garner's pregnancy was announced. In June 2005, they married in the Caribbean. In December that year, garner gave birth to their daughter, Violet Anne Affleck.

When the comedian Sarah Silverman made a joke video for her boyfriend, Jimmy Kimmel, entitled 'I'm F*cking Matt Damon', Affleck agreed to appear in Kimmel's response, entitled 'I'm F*cking Ben Affleck.' A number of celebrities featured in the video, including Macy Gray, Brad Pitt and Cameron Diaz.