|
Real Name: Benjamin Geza Affleck Occupation: Actor, Screenwriter Date of Birth: August 15, 1972 Place of birth: Berkeley California Relations: father: Tim (social worker); mother: Chris (teacher); brother: Casey (actor); companion: Gwyneth Paltrow; best friend: Matt Damon Education: Cambridge and Latin High School, University of Vermont; Occidental College. |
 ecently the name Ben Affleck has become a household name. The famous newcomers, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have come to the attention of many with their film, Good Will Hunting. Yet unbeknownst to some people, this talented thespian has been around for a very long time...
Ben was born in Berkeley, California, to an auto mechanic father and a schoolteacher mother. After his eighth birthday, Ben was hired for his very first acting job, as a regular on the PBS series The Voyage of Mimi. Around that time, Ben met up with his best friend, Matt Damon. They both attended Cambridge Rindge & Latin School in Cambridge, Mass. During this time, both Ben and Matt went on casting calls for every movie that filmed in Boston, and had each appeared as an extra many times. Upon graduation, Matt left to study at Harvard, and Ben went to the University of Vermont and then Occidental College in California before giving up academics in order to pursue his acting career. Currently, Ben has acquired much fame for the film Good Will Hunting. Everyone seems to have heard of the story of how two childhood friends, Ben and Matt, wrote the critically-acclaimed, award-winning, box-office hit screenplay. Ben says that winning the Best Original Screenplay Oscar was "bizarre and overwhelming-whatever we do next will never be good enough." Matt and Ben are currently working on a second script, Halfway House. Considered a "low concept stepchild of Good Will Hunting" by Matt, the story is based upon a pair of Boston drug-abuse counselors. Hopefully Ben's reaction to GWH is simple modesty and this next piece becomes as successful as their first. In one of his earlier acting experiences, Ben acted in the television mini-series Hands of a Stranger and in the Danielle Steele adaptation of Daddy. Soon after, Ben was cast with Matt in the drama School Ties. This film marked a promising film debut. Yet Ben was yet to be fully recognized in any of these appearances until he landed a role as the freshman-paddling bully in Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused. Prior to his success with GWH, Ben could be easily recognized from numerous Kevin Smith films. A close friend to Smith, Ben has appeared in Mallrats, starred in Chasing Amy, and is currently working on Dogma, where Ben will team up once again with childhood pal, Matt Damon.
Ben has also worked behind the camera in the short film, I Murdered My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meat Hook and now I've got a Three- |
