Batman: Ben Affleck Hated Playing the Caped Crusader
Apparently, some ambitions aren’t worth pursuing. Ben Affleck apparently hated being Batman. While we already knew Affleck wouldn’t be donning the cape and cowl again, we didn’t realize how unpleasant it was until now.
Affleck talked to the Los Angeles Times about what it’s like to play Batman, from the outside, it may appear that becoming a superhero is a glamorous and coveted role that any actor would adore to play.
When he was asked whether or not he felt that it would be an issue for him to direct Batman, Affleck responded, “I knew I wouldn’t be satisfied doing it.”
“The person who does this should love it. You’re supposed to always want these things, and I probably would have loved doing it at 32 or something. But it was the point where I started to realize it’s not worth it. It’s just a wonderful benefit of reorienting and recalibrating your priorities that once it started being more about the experience, I felt more at ease.”
Filming Justice League, Affleck said, was the straw that broke Batman’s back.
“That was a bad experience because of a confluence of things: my own life, my divorce, being away too much, the competing agendas and then [director] Zack [Snyder]’s personal tragedy [Snyder’s daughter Autumn died by suicide in 2017] and the reshooting. It just was the worst experience. It was awful. It was everything that I didn’t like about this. That became the moment where I said, ‘I’m not doing this anymore.’ It’s not even about, like, Justice League was so bad. Because it could have been anything.”
***
Acting is an art form, and Affleck is a creative in nature. He enjoys the process, and he’s always striving to improve while balancing others’ expectations. He stated that eventually he stopped concerned about what other people thought because of this.
My whole career, I’ve loved acting. But I kind of got to a place where I realized I needed to really define and stick to what my standards were for what I wanted to do and not be drawn into what everyone else thinks. I think it’s a paradox that the more you focus on actually trying to do what you think is interesting and what you want to do — rather than what other people say — the better your work is and the more relaxed you get.
The Last Duel was a box office flop, and it received a wet-blanket treatment from the press as a result.
“I really loved the movie, and I liked what I did in it. I was disappointed more people didn’t see it, but I can’t chase what’s going to be cool. I’m happy with it. I’m not preoccupied with notions of success or failure about money or commercial success, because those things really corrupt your choices. Then what happens is the movies are less interesting and you’re less good.”
What do you think about Afleck’s comments about Batman? Let us know in the comments below!
Covering superheroes, anything dark, horror, and more! Lead writer for Fan Fest
