How One Film Pushed Ben Affleck To Consider Quitting Hollywood Completely

Ben Affleck’s Hollywood career has been full of ups and downs. While his friend and collaborator Matt Damon has had a steadier path, Affleck’s journey as an actor has been anything but smooth. The two first made waves together with their Oscar-winning script for Good Will Hunting, but Affleck’s solo efforts brought a lot of public scrutiny.

After the success of 1998’s Armageddon, Affleck seemed poised for stardom. But that high was followed by a string of disappointing films that put his career in jeopardy. While many point to Gigli in 2003 as the low point, Affleck says it wasn’t just that movie.

He remembers the back-to-back releases of Jersey Girl and Paycheck in 2004 as the projects that made him seriously think about quitting acting. “I just thought I should quit acting,” Affleck admitted when talking about that time. He called the experience suffocating.

“It was horrible to feel so suffocated. I thought, ‘I’d rather do something else than do this’,” he said. Both films had promise on paper—Paycheck was a high-concept thriller directed by John Woo and based on a story by Philip K. Dick, while Jersey Girl reunited him with longtime friend Kevin Smith—but critics were harsh. Reviews focused on Affleck’s performances, leaving him feeling frustrated and undervalued.

Even before those films, the reception of Daredevil in 2003 had already started to wear him down. But a turning point came with Hollywoodland, where Affleck played George Reeves, the original Superman, whose mysterious death has become Hollywood lore. The role reminded Affleck of his range and gave him the boost he needed to keep going.

“I did a lot of great movies in succession, but weirdly enough, and I think I was too sensitive, I felt nobody noticed,” he recalled. He said it was frustrating when the work he was proud of didn’t receive the acclaim he expected. “I thought I would accomplish really good work, and people would say it was really good work, and I would feel validated, but that didn’t happen,” Affleck explained.

The real shift in his career came when he moved behind the camera. His directorial debut, Gone Baby Gone, proved he could tell stories from a new perspective. Later, Argo became a massive success and won Best Picture at the Oscars, cementing his reputation as a talented filmmaker.

Although his time as Batman in the DC Extended Universe got mixed reviews, Affleck has refocused on projects that matter to him. He now spends much of his energy on Artists Equity, the production company he co-founded with Damon. Their latest project, The Rip, premiered on Netflix in January, featuring the two as Miami narcotics officers, and it quickly became a streaming hit.

Affleck’s journey shows the ups and downs of Hollywood, but also the power of resilience. From feeling suffocated by negative reviews to winning Oscars and running a successful production company, he’s found a way to balance commercial work with personal creative control.

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