Jimmy Kimmel did an interview with Ben Affleck that was published in Men’s Journal earlier this week, I’m just seeing it now sorry. At the beginning of the article they clarify that the interview was conducted on October 6, 2017. Checking our archives of Affleck, that was about a week before the stories came out that Affleck lied about knowing about Weinstein’s abusive behavior and that Affleck himself was a serial groper, for which he only apologized for one incident caught on camera and otherwise half-denied and obfuscated his behavior. (He also pledged to donate all residuals from his Weinstein movies to charity.) So the issues about Affleck’s complicity in Predatorgate and his own behavior weren’t raised in the press yet. Plus Kimm is Affleck’s bro I doubt he’s going to ask any hard-hitting questions. This interview is mostly Affleck bitching about how he’s out of shape and knows it. He also complains about being old and unattractive now. Guess the Botox didn’t do much except make him look surprised and expressionless for a few months last year.
JIMMY:My first question is: Are you in love with your body?
BEN: Yes. I’m in love with my body. I don’t want to break up with my body. I’m very forgiving with my body. I don’t have very high standards.JIMMY: Is that true?
BEN: Yes. That’s very true. It’s a lot of work to get in shape for a superhero movie. It’s much, much nicer just to have the nonsuperhero body. You know what I mean?JIMMY: Oh, believe me, I know what you mean. Do you look at yourself in the mirror at certain angles to make yourself feel better about your physique?
BEN: No. I don’t own a skinny mirror or anything. I just avoid mirrors altogether. And occasionally, I catch a glimpse of this, like, strange, unshaven, middle-aged man. And I don’t recognize him at all. I’m horrified when I realize that actually the huge, shuffling, gray-haired homeless guy is me.JIMMY: That’s the opposite of vanity. Do you feel like you are vain in any way?
BEN: I think, in all seriousness, you can’t help but be critical of yourself when your work is thrown back in your face and you see yourself all the time. Especially with paparazzi pictures. They do the opposite of movies. They try to pick the one where you look the most bloated and grotesque. And then they run the headline. It’s, like, “Affleck Homeless for Life!”JIMMY: It seems as if maybe they alternate. Like, they want to get you looking your worst, then, six months later, they want you looking your best, so they can say how great you look now and encourage people to click on that. Then, three months later, they go back to you at your worst again.
BEN: It has to swing both ways. Otherwise there’s no story. There’s no drama. So you go from clinging to life on a ventilator, to being 400 pounds, and then back again so they can pummel you next month.JIMMY: I don’t think it even has anything to do with showbiz. I think every human being has a certain amount of vanity. I was looking at my bald spot and kind of fretting about it, and I think my wife was making fun of me. Meanwhile, I’m staring at my own death. I’m witnessing my impending demise, as represented by the bald spot on my head.
BEN: People think that is a suggestion that you’re admiring yourself. You know, the fact of the matter is, it’s just staring and thinking, “Why do I have bags under my eyes? Why am I so fat and out of shape?”JIMMY: What kind of workout do you do? Jumping jacks and Jack LaLanne kind of stuff?
BEN: Pushups, jumping jacks, and situps. The same workout I picked up in prison. I stick with that.
There’s more in there with Affleck bitching about how old he looks at 45 but I’ll spare you. If he didn’t want to keep up a fit physique, he shouldn’t have signed up to be a superhero in a franchise. It’s pretty simple, don’t take the boatload of cash if you don’t want to put the work in because that’s a key part of the job. It’s not about age either, because plenty of older men maintain their physiques, particularly in his industry. Affleck is thought to be leaving the role of Batman anyway, he complains about it enough, although that hasn’t been confirmed.
Also, this is Ben Affleck’s key beef in life, the fact that the tabloids mock him. He talks about it so often and he blames Jennifer Lopez for starting it. He’s the one who gave her a 6 carat pink diamond engagement ring, appeared in her music videos, did red carpets and at-home interviews with her, and left her at the altar pretty much. He does it to himself and then blames other people. Also, is anyone else annoyed by the fact that he’s saying he looks like a homeless guy? He has tens of millions in the bank and at least two palatial estates, but he jokes that he looks homeless like that’s so funny.
I saw this whole set of photos and Affleck looks like this in pretty much every one. Also, the photos with Lindsay are from 11-25. Her sister got married last week and Affleck didn’t go, just FYI.
photos credit: Backgrid
If you don’t like looking bloated, lay off the booze, jack@$$.
He really is a textbook alcoholic in very respect, including the whining and self-pity. It’s sad, but dull as dish-water.
If this had a like button, I’d press it until I had carpal tunnel.
My father is a life-long alcoholic and this could be a script of a million past whiny, self-pitying I-was-once-so-great-and-it’s-everything-and-everyone-else’s-fault-but-mine conversations. My heart breaks for Affleck’s children as I know what they’re feeling and what they will continue to feel as the child of an alcoholic father.
Ha ha. Thank you.
My thoughts, exactly. Like there weren’t a boatload to choose from.
Just picking one? Girl, please.
Yeah, alcoholics have no trouble at all laying off the booze. It’s what they are known for.
Thank you, annetommy. Regardless of how one may feel about his personal choices, he has a well-documented history of alcohol addiction.
Ben Affleck: self destruction on legs!
Nice photo choice, CB! Lol. Affleck is so ridiculous.
+1
Hahahahahahaha. Y’all so petty for choosing a pic where he looks like a balloon. Petty Labelle. And I’m here for it.
@Lama Bean: and I’m here for “Petty Labelle.” Love it!
Flaws and character aside, it kind of sounds like he’s having the same reaction to aging that a lot of other men do. He used to be handsome and now he’s not quite as much — maybe that’s a shock to someone who used to have cheekbones. Well, at least he can be thankful he once had cheekbones…
He did sound kind of self-deprecating. I thought that was what he was attempting to perform in this interview?
Honestly, even I’m a little shocked at how he looks sometimes. Recently, I watched one of his old movies, and I didn’t even realize at his peak how handsome he actually was (maybe the J-Lo years coloured my impression of him). I don’t know if it was the contrast to what he looks like now, but I was like “wait a second, you actually were handsome, not just some bland-looking accountant-wannabe.”
I never thought there was a single thing handsome about this dude, and now that his character has been exposed for the trash it is, only one word: b-a-r-f.
Back in the day, I thought he was boring looking. But compared to what he looks like now, I think he has aged in a strange way. Watching Good Will Hunting, one would think he’d have aged better. Then again, maybe alcohol doesn’t help his cause.
Of course he was handsome. Whether that made him sexy is up to each person to decide. I have zero attraction to Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise and George Clooney . But they are handsome. To deny it is just silly.
Honestly, I just thought he was boring looking, not anywhere near ugly or unattractive.
But to see what he looks like now is a bit jarring when you go back now and see his old cheekbones. I never really had cheekbones so I presume it must be devastating to lose them if you had them when you were younger.
It’s not the pictures, Ben. It’s the smoking, binge-drinking and drugs.
That being said, he’s not wrong that pap sites always choose the worst-looking photos of celebs.
Yes, Affleck, your boozy lifestyle will do that do you.
I don’t even know how come he’s able to function. The “wife” thing makes me laugh. So he has a wife but also a “side-piece” and he’s happily papped with said side-piece. I wonder, I wonder.
If the bloat don’t getcha the cirrhosis will
Sure dude. It’s just the photo choice.
Is the prison thing a joke? Please illuminate me!
That’s what I wanted to know. I was a little confused by that.
He looks bloated in pap photos? Wait—let me wipe the sad tears from my eyes…
For Christ’s sake man-if you don’t like the way you look get to the gym and put down the alcohol! I hate this whining and bitching when he’s got all the resources to do something different. No wonder Jen divorced his ass he’s annoying AF.
I’m not happy to defend Affleck, but that with photo choosing is true.
Tabloids and gossip sites love to pick the most terrible photos if they loathe the celebrity and pick beautiful ones if they like the celebrity. And if some photographer takes 100 pics of you walking and talking, some of them will have you look worse and some better, regardless of your actual appearance.
Small price to pay for the multi million dollar home(s) and paychecks. No sympathy.
I agree there, just sayin’ he’s not wrong in his assessment.
Well, Ben, uh…..
Aaaaawww… poor baby. I fell so sorry for him… (irony)
And this one made me laugh.
LOL, I don’t think that beard is doing anything to help him from looking bloated and old. Well, and the booze of course…
the beard is a (failed) attempt to hide the boozy double chin that came here to stay forever.
He DOES know that people can see all 300 photos and he looks bloated in every one.
Lay. Off. The. Booze
There are rumors that Jake Gyllenhaal will take over the role of Batman. This would be a gift from God.
The fact that he thinks he got into shape for the batman role is frankly speaking hilarious to me.
Dude, you don’t look bloated. You ARE bloated.
“I’m horrified when I realize that actually the huge, shuffling, gray-haired homeless guy is me.”
And I’m horrified that he uses “homeless” as an adjective for people who look unkempt when they have no choice and he does.
I completely agree. The guys who sleep outside my office RACED over to help when a mentally ill guy climbed into my car last weekend. Scruff or not, these are good people and don’t deserve to be the butt of Affleck’s self-serving jokes.
What a narcissist. He’s always the victim. It’s everyone else’s fault.
Doesn’t like what he sees? Says the man who can afford a home gym, home gym trainer and someone to cook healthier-choice meals for him if he chose to get healthier/slimmer. The booze is his own demon. What an insufferable whiner, IMO. Show some determination/initiative.
“Her sister got married last week and Affleck didn’t go, just FYI.” How do you even know this? Anyway, he’s probably back in rehab. He did just spend Thanksgiving with his family and that always seems to send him spiraling off the wagon.
He made the list now for 2017 biggest losers along with Weinstein, Lauer, Griffin, & Abby (from Dance Moms). Last time he became a tabloid joke , he blamed Jennifer Lopez.
Who will he blame now?
Probably best not to take the dude you were banging and helped destroy your marriage to a family wedding… very unseemly. However I bet her family knows what type of woman she is and had to specifically tell her not to.
If spending time with his children causes Ben to “spiral off the wagon”, i feel sorry for him. His children should make him want to try to stay sober.
+1
You look blated IN ALL OF THEM!
I really hope that Ben can get sober but he has to want it for HIMSELF.
Well Daily Mail has new photographs of him stumbling out of a “residential” rehab facility last night with a crowd of people. He looks way too jovial, like he’s drunk.
Just saw the pics….they are absolutely horrible! This rehab facility is doing nothing to protect his privacy! There is a thing called HIPAA! This should not be happening! Celebrity or not! Someone obviously tipped off the paps and got paid handsomely for it!
This is so bad i am sorry i looked!
Eh, he kinda appears to be playing up to them, so maybe he wanted the world to know? Good for him getting help – hope it works.
Whoa y’all are so scathing of him! I found this interview to be wry and self-deprecating, not whiny and entitled like you all suggest.
I haven’t got a dog in this race but surely some of you picked up on this?
Yeah-I have to agree. I think he’s being funny-especially considering he’s being interviewed by Jimmy Kimmel.
The header image you choose makes him look like a younger Weinstein. He’s morphing into him before our eyes.
I just want him to hit rock bottom, grow up, and go back to Jen. Is that wrong? I actually like them together, and I think she does more good for him than he cares to admit right now. I could be totally off base, but I’ve always rooted for them.
Yeah that’s wrong, IMO. She doesn’t deserve that life of constantly babysitting him and looks freer, younger and happier since they split. He’s 45 years old. He’s not going to change. He’s a whiny, selfish, self-obsessed narcissist who doesn’t respect her. He may say nice things about her in interviews but his actions speak louder than words (flaunting Shookus, for example). People need to get over the fantasy that they had this perfect union. Clearly not if he was cheating and drinking and disrespecting her. Behind the scenes it was a mess.
wonder if his theory about pap photos extends to his current girlfriend – maybe she’s a fresh faced beauty in real life?
They pick the ONE photo??? Dude, I haven’t seen a picture, movie or a video of you in the past five years where you didn’t look bloated.
This coming from the man who used to go get colonics for two with Gwyneth.
The pics and video are incredibly strange. Who has this much fun at rehab, or even worse, getting photographed there for all to see? His kids are going to see these photos. He looks like he’s partying and having the time of his life. Nothing has changed with him. Instead of quietly going off somewhere to get and stay sober, he’s got blondes on his arm and yukking it up. He doesn’t even look sober. It’s all just a waste of time now.
Like he’s not still hung up on Lopez
Still secretly texting her all the time
ARod doesn’t GAF
You know there’s a shot of alcohol in all the “coffee” cups he endlessly carries around. Bloated alcoholic is not the look Ben.
I think people here are taking this interview far too seriously. Seems self depreciating to me, and I think when he’s saying “homeless” he means he looks as unkempt as a homeless person would. Just trying not to take himself too seriously here, and put a bit of humor to the turmoil in his life- which is sometimes the best way to do deal with it.
@BigD
I totally agree with you!!!
There are other actors who are older than him, and haven’t aged this badly! I miss the Ben and JLO days. Sigh