Ben Affleck has been a part of Hollywood for over three decades now and has gained a lot over the years as an actor and a filmmaker. However, like many other Hollywood stars, his career also took a downturn in the early 2000s due to starring in a number of poorly received films, including Daredevil, Paycheck, and Gigil, with the latter being a massive failure and is still considered one of the worst films of all time.
However, Affleck gave his best in every movie he did, especially in John Woo’s 2003 sci-fi action Paycheck. Talking about the film during an interview, the Oscar winner shared that he did not want to disappoint the Mission: Impossible 2 director in any way possible.
Ben Affleck Wanted to Impress Filmmaker John Woo
The Hong Kong filmmaker John Woo is known to be a prominent figure in the action genre and has worked on some of the most popular action film series, including Tom Cruise‘s Mission Impossible. So, when Ben Affleck got the opportunity to work with the director in the 2003 film Paycheck, he did not want to disappoint him in any way.
Based on Philip K. Dick’s short story of the same name, Paycheck follows a reverse engineer on the run to solve the puzzle behind his lost memories. The movie not only failed at the box office, making only $98 million worldwide but it was also heavily criticized, as critics called it “Playful but inconsequential.”
During an interview with Comingsoon, the actor shared that he tried to do as much training as possible for the 2003 sci-fi action film. Affleck stated that he wanted to make sure that he was able to do everything he was asked to do by the director. He also said that it would have been really embarrassing for him if he “wouldn’t be able to do it.”
“He’s like the benevolent father that you just want to please in a way,” he said, talking about the filmmaker. The Gone Girl actor shared that he asked the director to give him enough time to work on himself and get ready for everything and he did exactly the same.
Matt Damon Rejected the Offer For John Woo’s 2003 Film
Before Ben Affleck took the lead role in John Woo’s 2003 sci-fi action, the filmmaker approached Matt Damon with the movie’s offer. The Argo actor shared that he got the role after his friend and fellow actor rejected the offer, saying, “I can’t do two amnesia pictures.”
It was around the same time as the release of his 2002 film The Bourne Identity, which also follows a man suffering from amnesia. After turning down the offer, he suggested the movie to his Air co-star, which ended up being a commercial and critical failure.
The director of the film John Woo has shared that he wanted to “make an Alfred Hitchcock-style movie” out of Philip K. Dick’s short story, with more suspense and thrill. But his vision did not align with the script, as he shared that it “wasn’t written that way.”
However, despite its failure, it seems that Affleck’s efforts to impress the filmmaker paid off as he said that although the film didn’t turn out the way he wanted, “at least it was nice to work with Ben Affleck.”
Paycheck is available on Prime Video.
Source: Comingsoon.net
