Actor, director, and producer Ben Affleck has evolved into a remarkable cinematic giant as the star starred in many acclaimed and well-known movies. The actor also directed the cast and crew a few times from the director’s chair.
Affleck’s directorial venture also proved to be a huge success as his 2012 movie Argo received the Best Picture Oscar while earning $232 million at the box office. Based on a true incident, the movie was remarkable but not easy to shoot.
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The Hardship of Filming Agro
Argo is a nail-biting thriller which raises the question if it’s the biggest deception story ever. The story follows an exfiltration specialist who performs as a subterfuge to be a Hollywood producer to rescue six Americans imprisoned in Tehran at the time of the US hostage crisis in Iran. Talking about the filming of the movie Ben Affleck told Shortlist that it was not easy primarily because of its political nature. “It would have been easier if I was British,” Affleck told Shortlist.
“I wanted to go to Tehran, but the studio said, ‘Don’t do it.’ I spoke with the State Department and they said, ‘Well, you’ll probably be fine, but you run the risk of the government making your visit a political statement.’ I didn’t want that, it’d muck up the whole movie. I tried to get some Iranian filmmakers to take pictures and videos of the scenery, but they were too afraid. It was really depressing; you realise what a Stalinist environment it is in Iran.”
Further, the actor-director of the movie revealed that they “had to use visual effects based on f*cking Google Earth images.” But despite all odds, Affleck pulled off the movie and captured the raw thrill in the exhilarating atmosphere the movie was set in.
Ben Affleck as a Director
Affleck has a few titles under his belt including his Oscar-winning Argo and most recent flick Air. Directing, as Affleck said, has been liberating for him. “I find it liberating, because I’m not being directed by somebody with whom I disagree,” the Argo director said.
“The environment I create for myself and the other actors is hopefully one of near-complete freedom, where they can do as many takes as they want, take risks and I sort it all out in the editing room.”
But the secret to success, Affleck said, is “probably anxiety.” “The terror that it’s not going to be good – that keeps me worrying and working and staying up late and obsessing about it all night,” he continued. Although it’s not “particularly healthy, but I think it’s helped make the movies better,” he added.
But being an actor/director, the Gone Girl actor said of terribly missed the dressing room and he doesn’t have a person to kick him in the a*s “if you don’t have enough energy.” Affleck recently directed Air and it was in the hype that he would direct another scam movie McScam but the Fox-owned movie has gone silent and there are no new reports of the movie happening anytime soon.
Source: Shortlist.
