Ben with grayer hair on set on 10/8/09. He admits to dyeing it black.

I can’t tell you how excited I am to see The Town when it opens here in Germany next week. You guys in the US get it tomorrow so please don’t go posting spoilers in the comments on this or any other stories on it. You’ve been warned! At least we don’t have to wait over a month here to see the film as is usual for European showings, and I appreciate that. It looks like one of those gems that has it all: hard-hitting believable drama, gritty realistic crime action and beautiful guys to stare at. (The Departed is near the top of my list for that reason.) Affleck’s directorial efforts are earning praise and the film has a solid 85% on Rotten Tomatoes. Anyway people have noticed during the promotional tour that Affleck is sporting some gray hair along with his hot facial scruff and those washboard abs we get to see in the trailer. (At 1:03) He’s been asked about it and he has a sense of humor, explaining that he got it from directing and from his brother, Casey.

Was it tricky directing Bahstin taahk?
If you don’t do the accent well, it can really upend your movie. So you have to hire really good actors. I knew Jeremy Renner is great, so I wasn’t worried. And when [California-bred] Blake Lively came in, she read the scenes for me so well, I asked her what part of Boston she was from.

Any plans to work with your wife?
Jen is a great actress. I would be profoundly lucky to work with her. But something tells me that people don’t want to see real-life couples together at the movies.

What’s up with the gray hair?
It’s there, it’s present. I can acknowledge it! I didn’t have a single gray hair until I started directing movies. It gives you gray hair. That and my brother.

Just how real is Casey’s documentary, I’m Still Here?
Well [pauses and laughs], I’m not the best person to ask. All I can say is, I think it’s spectacular and says something really relevant about celebrity.

[From US Weekly, print edition, September 27, 2010]

Cinemablend and Buzzine have the details from a press conference Ben gave at the Toronto Film Festival, and it’s clear that’s where these quotes are from and that it wasn’t just an interview he gave to US Weekly. (only Cinemablend admits it was a press conference, Buzzine tries to pass it off as a one-on-one interview like US does, but it’s obviously not as the wording is the exact same.) In the full quote that US excerpts above, he admitted dying his hair for the film. “You’re asking why I dyed the gray? I thought it would look good. Vanity. I have a little bit of gray in my hair, yes. Thank you. It’s there, it’s present. I acknowledge it. Thank you. You know what it is? I didn’t have a single gray hair until I started directing movies. I started directing movies, and… here’s your gray hair. And my brother. Those things give me gray hair..”

The full quote from Ben on potentially working with Garner is in Buzzine, and it’s very complimentary toward her and much nicer than it sounds when it’s just excerpted like this. He said “My wife is a great actress, and I would be profoundly lucky to work with her. Something tells me that people don’t want to see real-life couples together in film. If I could pick a woman to work with, it would be my wife. She’s magnificent. She’s magnificent on her own, in her own movies, and maybe one day I’ll be lucky enough to direct her.” That’s really nice! I hope these two are doing ok, and that the rumors are just that. It must be hard to manage two jet-setting careers and raise two kids together, even with all the help they surely have. Now let’s get back to anticipating this film, as it just looks incredible.

Here’s Ben with grayer hair with Seraphina on 6/12/10 and with darker hair at the Boston premiere on 9/14/10. I think he looks hotter with darker hair, but I’ll take him either way. I think he’s back to heartthrob status. Credit: WENN.com.