Biography:

Benjamin Geza Affleck was born on August 15, 1972 in Berkeley, California, USA but raised in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. He was born to parents Tim, a social worker, who is now divorced from Ben's mother Chris, a school teacher. 

Ben also has a younger brother, actor Casey , who was born in 1975. Ben wanted to be an actor ever since he could remember, and his first acting practice was for a Burger King commercial, when he was on the PBS mini-series "The Voyage of the Mimi" (1984). 

It was also at that age when he met his lasting friend and fellow actor, Matt Damon. They played little league together and took drama classes together. Ben's young teen years consisted of television  movies and small television appearances including "Hands of a Stranger" (1987) and "The Second Voyage of the Mimi" (1988). 

He made his big opening into feature films in 1993 when he was cast in "Dazed and Confused" (1993), about the adventures of incoming high school and junior high students on the last day of school, in May of 1976. After that, he did mostly independent films like Kevin Smith's "Mallrats" (1995), about two teen boys who are both dumped by their girlfriends, and seek refuge in the local mall. Next was "Chasing Amy" (1997) which were big for Ben's career, receiving celebrated appreciation for his works at the Sundance Film Festival. 

But the accomplishments he was having in independent films didn't last much longer and things got a little unsteady for the actor. He was living in an apartment with his brother Casey and friend Matt Damon, getting tired of being turned down for the full-size roles in films and being given the unremarkable supporting ones. Since Matt was having the same difficulty, they decided to write their own script, where they could call all the shots. 

So, after concluding the script for "Good Will Hunting" (1997), they gave it to their agent Patrick Whitesell, who showed it to a few Hollywood studios, finally being picked up by Castlerock. It was enormous news for the two, but Castlerock wasn't enthusiastic to give them the control over the project they were hopeful for. 

It was friend Kevin Smith who took it to the head of Miramax who bought the script giving the two writers the control they wanted and, in December of 1997, "Good Will Hunting" starring Robin Williams (1997) was on the rampage, making the two unfamiliar actors renowned. The film was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and won two, including Best Original Screenplay for both Affleck and Damon. 

The film marked his breakthrough role, in which he was given for the first time the chance to select roles instead of having to go through exhausting auditions constantly. He chose such roles in the blockbusters "Armageddon" (1998/I) with an all-star cast including Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler and Owen Wilson, then "Shakespeare in Love" (1998), about a young Shakespeare who is out of ideas and short of cash, who meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays. And finally "Pearl Harbor" (2001) with Kate Beckinsale and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Also in 2001 was the comedy-drama "Daddy And Them" starring Billy Bob Thornton, a dark comedy where a married couple come to the aid of a jailed uncle (Jim Varney). 

With these hits to his credit, Hollywood couldn't seem to get enough of the hot celebrity, with directors wanting him in their movies and companies seeking his screenplays. His moving story of hard work and remarkable climb to the top has brought him what he deserves and Ben Affleck has shown no sign of slowing down.

The comedian side of the actor also appeared in Kevin Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" (with a star filled cast consisting of Shannon Elizabeth and Eliza Dushku), "Changing Lanes" with Samuel L. Jackson, "The Third Wheel" with Matt Damon and Denise Richards, and "The Sum of All Fears", with Morgan Freeman. 

The year 2003 started off with the action-thriller "Daredevil" (2003) starring Jennifer Garner, about a man blinded by toxic waste which also enhances his remaining senses fights crime as an acrobatic martial arts superhero. His big flop was the movie "Gigle" (2003), working with his then girl friend Jennifer Lopez the film was an absolute failure and lambasted by the press and audiences alike.

He ended 2003 with the action-thriller "Paycheck" with Uma Thurman,  playing the lead role of what seemed like a breezy idea for an engineer to net him millions of dollars, leaves him on the run for his life and piecing together why he's being chased. Ben worked again with Jennifer Lopez in the romantic comedy "Jersey Girl" about a man after his career is sidelined from an unexpected tragedy and a personal blowup, then must take care of his precocious daughter. 

Proving to be a better year, 2004 ushered in the holiday comedy "Surviving Christmas" (2004) with Christina Applegate and James Gandolfini, about a lonely, obnoxious young millionaire who pays a family to spend Christmas with him. After taking a year off in 2005, he bolted into 2006 with the comedy-drama "Man About Town" (2006) starring Rebecca Romijn and featuring Bai Ling, about a top Hollywood talent agent who finds his cushy existence threatened when he discovers that his wife is cheating on him and that his journal has been swiped by a reporter out to bring him down.

His next big production was the crime-drama "Hollywoodland" (2006) about a detective who examines the mysterious death of George Reeves, TV's Superman. The next blockbuster was "Smokin' Aces", a story about  a Las Vegas performer-turned-snitch named Buddy Israel who decides to turn state's evidence and testify against the mob, it seems that a whole lot of people would like to make sure he's no longer breathing. 

In 2008, he returned to more general comedy stock with "He's Just Not That Into You" working next to an all-star cast that included Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Aniston, Jennifer Connelly and  Drew Barrymore, the Baltimore-set movie of interconnecting story arcs deals with the challenges of reading or misreading human behavior. Next was the crime-drama thriller "State Of Play" (2009) with Russell Crowe and based on the BBC mini-series of the same title, about a team of investigative reporters work alongside a police detective to try to solve the murder of a congressman's mistress.

Named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in the World in 2000, the actor was active in Gore's Presidential campaign, and likes reading poetry, collecting motorcycles, and vintage video-arcade games, smoking Camel Lights, and just being one of the guys.

 Books, Music, Movies, Posters, T-Shirts & Memorabilia Of Ben Affleck

[Get FREE Product Samples At FreeLance Free Stuff!]