BEN AFFLECK - TIGHT AFFLECK USED FREE EXTRAS FOR DIRECTORIAL DEBUT

TIGHT AFFLECK USED FREE EXTRAS FOR DIRECTORIAL DEBUT

BEN AFFLECK was so determined to keep costs down on the set of his feature film directorial debut GONE BABY GONE, he refused to use extras in bar and street scenes. Instead, the canny actor/director gave Boston, Massachusetts locals the chance to become film stars for the day. He explains, "Basically, what we did was, wherever possible, we went down to locations - say we shot in a bar - and we basically said, `Whoever's at your barstool, we're gonna show up and make the movie, stay where you are. We're gonna make the movie around you.' "A lot of times, and I'm not sure if this is legal, we were just buying people drinks. "We would come into neighbourhoods... we'd set the scene, bring the cameras and, as people came out of their house to see what was going on, say, `You folks are in the movie...' "We cast all our smaller roles from people who were not only local to Boston but people who were in that neighbourhood."