Ben Affleck

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q483118: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only person by that name on Wikidata.

Counted as actor. The films the hosts said they acted in, which the two lists below run through too: School Ties (1992); Mallrats (1995); Good Will Hunting (1997); Armageddon (1998); Pearl Harbor (2001); Changing Lanes (2002); Gigli (2003); The Company Men (2011); Argo (2012); To the Wonder (2012); Gone Girl (2014); Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016); Justice League (2017); Triple Frontier (2019); The Way Back (2020); The Last Duel (2021); Deep Water (2022); Air (2023); Against the Grain (NBC show); Chasing Amy; Hypnotic; Live by Night; Reindeer Games; Runner Runner; Surviving Christmas; The Accountant; The Flash; The Town. Count them as director (5 films), writer (1 film) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

The Social Network (2010): 2 lines

  1. theme (character template) · through Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), which they acted in: The Social Network ⇒ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (the maker said so). Snyder's reported reasoning: the modern-day Lex Luthor would be Mark Zuckerberg.
    “yeah, the modern day Lex Luthor would be Mark Zuckerberg.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Social Network (Ad-Free) · 0:44:07 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. people (casting led to) · through Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), which they acted in: The Social Network ⇒ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (the host's read). Snyder offered Eisenberg Jimmy Olsen in BvS in the wake of The Social Network.
    “Zack Snyder offers, uh, Jimmy Olsen. to Jesse Eisenberg in the wake of this movie, for BVS.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Social Network (Ad-Free) · 0:43:43 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)

A Simple Plan (1998): 1 line

  1. lineage (adaptation model) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they acted in: A Simple Plan ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so). Flynn used A Simple Plan as her model for adapting her own novel, then worried she could not match it.
    “And she said, so I tried to use that as a model and then I freaked myself out because I was like, well, this is too good. I won't do this well.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:36:35 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Alex Cross: 1 line

  1. people (led to casting) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they acted in: Alex Cross ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). Perry's turn in Alex Cross is given as the reason Fincher cast him as Tanner Bolt.
    “Well, that's why Fisher cast him in this.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:09:35 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Gone Girl (2014): 1 line, within their own work

  1. people (led to casting) · through Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), which they acted in: Gone Girl ⇒ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (the host's read). While making Gone Girl, Affleck reportedly joked to his agent that he needed a heroic-chin movie after the evil-chin one.
    “the joke was the chin things in the script, he calls up his agent, while making Gone Girl, and says, like, I'm doing the evil chin movie now, you got to find me a heroic chin movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 1:06:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn novel): 1 line

  1. lineage (adaptation) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they acted in: Gone Girl (Gillian Flynn novel) ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). The film adapts Flynn's novel, and the first-person diary trickery was the open question about how it would work on screen.
    “Because it is such like a little fun piece of 1st person narration trickery.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:34:23 · Esther Zuckerman (0.70 sure it was them)

Lolita (1962): 1 line

  1. theme (character type (Desi)) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they acted in: Lolita ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so: In the commentary). On the commentary Fincher says he wanted a Claire Quilty type for Desi and found it in Neil Patrick Harris.
    “Fincher said he wanted a Claire quilty type and he's like, what's a modern Claire quilty type?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:18:15 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Max Landis: 1 line

  1. people (performance model) · through Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016), which they acted in: Max Landis ⇒ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (the host's read). David's pet theory is that Eisenberg chose to play Max Landis as Lex Luthor.
    “It also feels like he chose to play Max Landis more than he chose to play.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Social Network (Ad-Free) · 0:44:48 · David Sims (0.45 sure it was them)

Reese Witherspoon: 1 line

  1. lineage (originated the project) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they acted in: Reese Witherspoon ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). Witherspoon took the book and had the idea of bringing Fincher on board.
    “takes this book, has the smart idea, bring Fincher on board.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:20:39 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Steven Soderbergh: 1 line

  1. unmapped (nod to a friend) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they acted in: Steven Soderbergh ⇒ Gone Girl (the maker said so). Fincher put Soderbergh's Singani 63 in the film as a nod to his buddy and let him pick the scene.
    “Fincher wanted to put it in the movie, as a nod to his buddy, Sudi, and said, uh, you can pick the scene where you want it applied.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 2:25:53 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Accountant: 1 line, within their own work

  1. unmapped (led to) · through The Way Back (2020), which they acted in: The Accountant ⇒ The Way Back (the host's read). The Accountant got Affleck linked up with Gavin O'Connor, which got him The Way Back.
    “It also got him linked up with Gavin O'Connor. It got him the way back”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 1:06:16 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011): 1 line

  1. people (casting approach) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they acted in: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ⇒ Gone Girl (the host's read). The speaker thinks Fincher's exhaustive casting search on Dragon Tattoo informed how he cast Amy with someone new to the audience.
    “that exhaustive casting search, which I do think informs the way he approaches Amy going into this movie as well”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:55:22 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

The Thin Red Line (1998): 1 line

  1. craft (music borrowed) · through Pearl Harbor (2001), which they acted in: The Thin Red Line ⇒ Pearl Harbor (the host's read). Disney used the Thin Red Line score in the Pearl Harbor trailer without permission, and Malick later cashed that in.
    “Disney uses the score for the thin red line, um, when they, uh, when they do the Pearl Harbor trailer.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Empire of the Sun with Bilge Ebiri · 0:40:07 · Bilge Ebiri (0.80 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016): 1 line, within their own work

  1. people (led to casting) · through Gone Girl (2014), which they acted in: Gone Girl ⇒ Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (the host's read). While making Gone Girl, Affleck reportedly joked to his agent that he needed a heroic-chin movie after the evil-chin one.
    “the joke was the chin things in the script, he calls up his agent, while making Gone Girl, and says, like, I'm doing the evil chin movie now, you got to find me a heroic chin movie.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 1:06:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Emily Ratajkowski: 1 line

  1. people (casting suggestion) · them, directly: Ben Affleck ⇒ Emily Ratajkowski (the maker said so: In the commentary). On the commentary Fincher says he did not know how to cast the mistress and Affleck pointed him to a music video.
    “he says, I didn't know how to cast for this part, and Affleck goes like, well, you should watch this music video.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 1:42:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

The Way Back (2020): 1 line, within their own work

  1. unmapped (led to) · through The Accountant, which they acted in: The Accountant ⇒ The Way Back (the host's read). The Accountant got Affleck linked up with Gavin O'Connor, which got him The Way Back.
    “It also got him linked up with Gavin O'Connor. It got him the way back”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 1:06:16 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (7) everyone in directing

Acting (40) everyone in acting

Other (3) everyone in other

Writing (1) everyone in writing

What was said about them, by kind

career (7)

  1. career (career parallel): Ben Affleck → Keanu Reeves. Both ride comeback cycles every seven years.
    “Okay, he and Keanu Reeves are just these like both like either side of a coin.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Starman with Katey Rich · 0:28:40 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): Ben Affleck → Gigli. Gigli is Affleck's nadir mountain, the anti-classic for an Unwatchables month.
    “That's his Nadir Mountain.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 1:10:20 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. career (career): Chasing Amy → Ben Affleck. Peter North award for the actor who goes all out: Ben Affleck in Chasing Amy.
    “I feel like Ben Affleck and Chasing Amy was a Peter North movie for him.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 1:28:30 · unknown (0.50 sure it was them)
  4. career (career): Randall Batinkoff → Ben Affleck. Batinkoff was the odds-on favorite to be the biggest star of the Affleck/Damon/O'Donnell/Fraser class and peaked in 1992.
    “Batenkoff was probably like the odds on favorite to be the biggest star of all of them.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 0:52:46 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  5. career (career comp): Ben Affleck → Ryan O'Neal. Affleck's 90s image as a star the public mocked is compared to Ryan O'Neal.
    “A little bit of like a Ryan O'Neill thing, right?”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:59:42 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  6. career (career contrast): Ben Affleck → Matt Damon. Damon did the serious prestige work while Affleck made the big blockbusters.
    “Damon was doing the serious prestige stuff with serious filmmakers, and Affleck makes the big dumb blockbusters that people like, but they're not taken seriously.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 1:00:01 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  7. career (career): Ben Affleck → Surviving Christmas. Surviving Christmas is where Affleck's downturn and James Gandolfini's trajectory met in the middle.
    “Ben Affleck was on the way down, one of his several down turns.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Trolls: The Experience with Richard Lawson · 0:51:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

people (3)

  1. people (casting moment): Triple Frontier → Ben Affleck. Triple Frontier is nominated for casting partly because of what the culture was doing with Ben Affleck then; its best moment is Oscar Isaac in a helicopter set to Metallica.
    “we see Oscar Isaac flying in a helicopter set to Metallica's For Whom the Bell Tolls, and I was like, oh, it's this kind of movie.”
    The Big Picture · Our Alternative Academy Awards | The Oscars Show · 0:50:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
  2. people (casting suggestion): Ben Affleck → Emily Ratajkowski. On the commentary Fincher says he did not know how to cast the mistress and Affleck pointed him to a music video.
    “he says, I didn't know how to cast for this part, and Affleck goes like, well, you should watch this music video.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 1:42:31 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. people (people): Ben Affleck → Sling Blade. On the Armageddon Criterion commentary Affleck does a Sling Blade voice whenever Billy Bob Thornton is on screen.
    “anytime Billy Bob Thornton is on screen, Ben Affleck starts doing a slingblade voice.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Return of the Jedi · 2:21:17 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Ben Affleck: After his Oscars 'marriage is hard work' speech and a Globes slip, Affleck hosted the SNL finale and brought Jennifer Garner onstage to atone, then overplayed the bit.
    “his whole monologue is him bringing Gardner up on stage and trying to atone for that comment at the Oscars.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:54:39 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Ben Affleck: Fincher on why he wanted Affleck: a guy who may have killed his wife, but you'd still grab a cheeseburger with him; also his practiced public smile.
    “Here's this guy who may have killed his wife, but I would also love to grab a cheeseburger with him.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 0:55:13 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Ben Affleck: The story that Affleck shut down production over a Yankees cap is a deadpan joke Fincher tells on the commentary; both men say it happened as a funny episode of the shoot.
    “idea that Ben Affleck actually shut down production of this film over wearing a Yankees hat is a joke that David Fincher says on the commentary.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Gone Girl with Esther Zuckerman (Ad-Free) · 1:09:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)