Ben Affleck did a NY Times Talk which you can see here. (The sound and picture are out of sync about halfway through, just FYI.) He spends a lot of time discussing his films, including his upcoming prohibition gangster movie, Live By Night. You can tell how much of a passion project it is, and how much thought he put into it and into his career in general. Live by Night will probably do decently well at the box office, judging by The Accountant, which grossed $88 million despite mediocre reviews. It was a fun interview to watch because he was in his element, he opened up and was really animated. It was also a study in success, and how Affleck pushed through with hard work and perseverance. He’s at his best when he’s talking about his process and I got a lot out of his talk. Most outlets are quoting him gushing about his sort-of estranged wife, Jennifer Garner, but that came at the end of the talk, (it was during the Q&A and is not in the video online) and I found his thoughts on his work more interesting.

How Matt Damon pitched Good Will Hunting to him
He said ‘I want to make a movie where I’m a genius.’ I said to him, ‘I bet you do. What else happens in your movie where you’re a genius?’ So he talks me into working on a movie where he was a genius. It panned out.

On why he wanted to do BvS – he hated Daredevil
I felt like I wanted for once, like get one of these movies and do it right, like do a good version of – because I hated Daredevil so much. It frustrated me that we didn’t get where – the Netflix show does really cool stuff with that. The stuff was there to do with that character and I wanted to do one of those movies and get it right.

We did Batman vs. Superman there was some alarm about my casting originally but it worked out ok and we just finished Justice League in London last summer.

On choosing to be Batman
I’ve been to the top and I’ve been to the bottom… I had finally come to be sort of free myself of worrying about whatever stuff said and whatever the commentary was and the editorializing was about me and my life and to look at it from my own point of view and my own standards. From that point of view my son was four years old and I was like ‘I don’t want to be Batman’ and he was like ‘Dad you have to be Batman.’

On the progress of the standalone Batman movie
I’m a real believer in not reverse engineering projects to meet a window or date… If I can find a writer there’s nothing I’d love more than to direct a standalone iconic great Batman movie, but it’s been done. Chris Nolan did three really great movies. I’m really mindful of that. I want to make sure, if we do it, we get the great version.

On Gigli and working with Martin Brest
Marty Brest may be the best director I ever worked with… Marty did Midnight Run and Scent of a Woman and he also did Gigli. In a way I ruined it for him, it would have been just a bad movie that nobody cared about [without me]. Angelina Jolie had a bad movie which came out that year – nobody cared, but because I was dating Jennifer Lopez that made it a big f-ing deal… It got unfairly maligned.

On if he’ll run for office
I like the idea of running for office I think there’s something really noble in public service. I’ve been disillusioned… it’s this relentless cash suck… Congress it’s a miracle they get anything done they spend so much time raising money. I will say that the great thing about November 2016 is that I all of a sudden became qualified to run for President.

On his greatest accomplishment
In my career or otherwise, it is the birth of my children. The entrance of my children into the world. It’s a joy to hang out with them. I think the meaning of life is to make good people. [Ed note: he also called Garner the “greatest mom in the world.”]

[Transcribed from Timestalk video, additional quotes from E! Online]

Note how Affleck kind of glossed over the critical reception to Batman vs. Superman by saying “it worked out ok.” Box office is king and ultimately it made the movie a success. Perhaps low critic ratings for BvS are why he’s still waiting to do the standalone Batman movie. I haven’t followed his progress with that, but the last I heard Affleck was co-writing it. He’s now looking for a writer, but I thought he already had a co-writer, Geoff Johns. He always, always throws Jennifer Lopez under the bus when it comes to talking about the low point in his career. As for his thoughts on Garner, he’s often been gracious about her and I think he does realize how much she does for their kids.

photos credit: Getty, WENN and FameFlynet