Why Ben Affleck Loves Acting Again: “I started developing my own criteria”

When he isn’t making Dunkin’ Donuts Super Bowl advertisements that become a huge hit with audiences nationwide, Academy Award-winner Ben Affleck is best known for his roles as both an actor and director — and since he has concentrated more of his behind-camera work over the last dozen years it has given rise to the rumor that Affleck far prefers directing than acting. While appearing on the Smartless Podcast with fellow actors Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, and Sean Hayes, Affleck spoke about how he learned to appreciate acting more after he began working behind the camera.

Affleck noted that he rediscovered his love for acting when he initially tried to shift full-time into directing. He explains:

“I started really loving acting finally for real, when I was like, ‘I don’t want to do this anymore. I’m just gonna direct movies. I’m done with this. I don’t care. I just like directing.’ And then I was like, ‘Well,  I’m already here.’  And then I just let go.

“And I remember Sydney Pollack once saying, he was a director and an actor and we did a movie called Changing Lanes 20 some years ago. He said to me, ‘You know why I’m a good actor?’ I was like, ‘No, no, no, Sydney.’ ‘Because I don’t give a sh*t.’

“I didn’t understand at the time, but I know what he’s getting at now, which is that so much of it just has to do with letting go and being relaxed and trying things and not sweating what people are going to think.”

He also credits working with people he enjoys collaborating with — like longtime friends Matt Damon and George Clooney — as helping to reignite his interest in acting. He continues, “Once I started doing it and doing it with people I really loved… and it’s true I love directing it in a different way but acting has become really fun. The Tender Bar was really fun. Last Duel was really fun. It became joyful because I started developing my own criteria and stopped kind of making it about like, you know, ‘Who likes me?'”