Ben Affleck is one of the veteran actors in the Hollywood industry and has been an inspiration to many people, young and old alike. Furthermore, he has delivered us some fantastic blockbuster movies of almost every genre ever since his debut in Hollywood with a small role in the movie The Dark End of the Street. Apart from being a fine actor, he is also a filmmaker and his directorial debut was Gone Baby Gone, released in 2007.
Ben Affleck has worked with countless celebrities and directors during his time in Hollywood and among them, one has been with him from the early days who also rose up the ladder to be an A-lister in the Hollywood industry; Matt Damon. And recently, Affleck shared as to why he did not choose to cast his long-time friend for the movie The Town, which was directed by Affleck in 2010.
Ben Affleck’s Decision to Choose Jeremy Renner Over Matt Damon
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have been in the industry for over 3 decades and have starred in numerous blockbuster movies or have made numerous scripts into blockbusters. Both of them have earned immense fame and respect from both the industry and the people with their acting and currently, they stand very high on the list of actors of today’s generation. They first gained recognition with they both wrote and starred in Good Will Hunting which earned them multiple high-end awards.
In a recent interview with both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, The Martian actor revealed that their upcoming movie AIR is the first movie where he was approached by his long-time friend, Affleck for a role in his directorial movie. Damon continued to share that,
“Well, he didn’t ask me to be in The Town, he gave that part to Renner […] He didn’t ask me to do ‘Argo‘ which I could’ve crushed the lead in that movie, but he took it for himself”
Though it came as a shock to many, the Gone Girl actor gave a reasonable explanation for not casting Damon as he would have cost buckets, which Affleck was not capable of producing. Ben Affleck continued,
“Let me tell you the truth, we couldn’t afford Matt Damon by a country mile, Matt Damon would’ve cost what the movie cost, you know what I mean.”
Ben Affleck continued to say that he could have cast Matt Damon for Argo but it would have made him less money if he did. Moreover, Jeremy Renner‘s cast in The Town turned out pretty well as the movie earned a massive $154 million at the box office after its release worldwide and Renner was even nominated for the best-supporting actor at the 2011’s Academy Awards.
Decades-Long Friendship of Two Veteran Actors
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have been the best of friends since their childhood days as the duo has been growing up together in the same part of the world. Since their debut in Hollywood, the duo has worked on multiple projects together and has even turned countless scripts into blockbusters. There was even a time when both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon shared the same bank account during their early days in the industry which helped them support each other during tough times.
Matt Damon said,
“It was unusual, but we needed the money for auditions, it’s a weird thing in retrospect.”
Ben Affleck supported Damon’s words with,
“We were going to help each other and be there for each other, it was like, ‘You’re not going to be alone. I’m not going to be alone. Let’s go out there and do this together.'”
Now, after all this time, both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon will be starring in the movie AIR, which will be a sports-type drama movie related to the signing of Michael Jordan with Nike, and the lengths the company went for scouting and signing this deal with the upcoming player of that time. The movie will most likely also portray the development of Nike from a small shoe company to the multi-billion dollar company it is now.
AIR will premiere on 5 April 2023.
Source: The Bill Simmons Podcast
