the awards editions 2010-2011

DeaDline: What went through your mind as you were deciding
whether or not to do this?
affleck: My first thought was, I really wanted to play
the role. But I was concerned that the overlap between
this and the other movie I directed would be too much,
and that I ran the risk of getting pigeonholed for making
crime movies in Boston. When I really want to tell stories
that take place all over. That made me pause. But there
were a couple things that ultimately persuaded me to take
on directing it as well. There were a ton of great parts, and
I thought the material gave me a shot to work with really
good actors. And there was a big challenge in trying to
synthesize the two elements of the movie. There was the
traditional genre element — the robbery, heist, chase and
all that stuff — which had to be done in an interesting and
unique way in order to work. That needed to fuse with the
character drama on the other side. I felt intimidated and
daunted by that challenge, but felt, if I could execute it
right, I’d put myself in a position to be able to make movies
that I am really interested and attracted to. That is a rare
thing in Hollywood. Mostly we’re just schmucks limited by
our options.
DeaDline: What did you do better this time?
affleck: As director, this definitely had a broader scope
than my first movie. On a basic level, movies are defined
by performances and writing and it’s up to the director
to bring those together or screw it up. To some directors,
this was a small film, but to me it was a big step forward
in budget, scale and the attempt to cross–pollinate these
two kinds of movies.
DeaDline: Ho w d i f f i c u l t wa s i t w h e n t h e d i re c t o r i s
also the star?
affleck: Because I was directing myself, I got to make
my own determination about what was most interesting
about my performance. That’s a double–edged sword.
People know it is you making those decisions, so they probably
judge it more closely. And it calls into question your
perspective on yourself. You put your taste on the line. If
you can’t be good in a movie you direct and write, when is
it going to happen for you? You can’t make the argument, I
didn’t have the opportunity to succeed. The question became,
was I sophisticated enough as a director and an actor
to capitalize on those opportunities and to understand how
to use them? I shot a lot of film on myself, trying different
things and basically directing myself in the editing room
when I put the performance together. I read somewhere
that De Niro did the same thing on The Good Shepherd. I
don’t know if it was true or not but the idea was reassuring.
If I was going to fail, at least I would fail emulating De
Niro. The approach proved to be, for me, really smart. You
gain much more perspective on yourself in the cold dark of
the editing room than you do on the set, trying to modulate
your own performance along with everything else.
DeaDline: You’ve hit the highs as an actor, been in gigantic
blockbusters like Armageddon and Pearl Harbor, but you hit
some low lows in your career, too. Instead of blaming your agent
and getting a new one, or feeling sorry for yourself, you literally
scripted a resurgence as a writer and director. What gave you the
courage to say, I can do this?
affleck: I don’t know. Maybe it’s not being smart enough
to know better and say to yourself, what do you think you’re
doing? For me, there was a lesson in Good Will Hunting, and
even earlier in the things we were taught in the acting school
we went to. Generating your own material is the only thing
you can rely on. Opportunities come and go, things go well
and dry up. But ultimately you have to be responsible for
yourself, your life and your career. This wasn’t necessarily a
question of nerve or drive, because a lot of people in Hollywood
have that. It’s really a question, will you get the break?
I’d felt for some time that I wanted to direct and I’d done
some writing, and I wanted to continue down that road. I
just didn’t know if I would get hold of the right material, or
come up with the right idea, and, if I did, would people be
receptive to it? The only reason Gone Baby Gone got made
was that Dick Cook was willing to pick it up in turnaround.
But I’d done a lap around the track at this point, seen the
highs and lows, and seen various versions of how things can
turn out. If I’ve learned anything through that, it’s that a lot
of what you get caught up in doesn’t mean anything. What
you really have to be concerned about is your own work,
and working hard. And that’s it. Here, I was grateful to have
Jeff Robinov really believe in me, and Sue Kroll who I think
is the reason why the movie was successful, and Alan Horn
green lighting it. Robinov said, ‘I want to hire you, I believe
in you, you’re going to have this much money to do it, cast
who you want’. I just kept thinking, has he mistaken me for
some proven filmmaker? But I do believe in myself. Any artistic
endeavor has got risk in it and they’re not all going to
fall the right way, no matter how hard you work. A big part
of it for me was not getting discouraged, and believing that,
if I just had the chance to keep taking swings, I could be successful
at some point.
DeaDline: Your films display an understanding of the underclass,
and the working class and through that you’ve established
your wheelhouse. Then there were rumors you considered directing
Superman, which went to Zack Snyder. What factors do you
consider in where to go next? Do you need to do a mega–budget
film as a director?
affleck: The one benefit of having done all kinds of
movies as an actor is, you learn the pros and cons of being
tempted to do a really big movie because it costs a
lot of money. With Superman, I think they’re going to
do a great version. Chris Nolan is brilliant and they’ve
got a great director for it. I’ve love to do something like
Blade Runner, but a lesson I’ve learned is to not look
at movies based on budget, how much they’ll spend on
effects, or where they will shoot. Story is what’s important.
Also, there are a lot of guys ahead of me on the list
to do epic effects movies.
DeaDline: If there is an Oscar nomination for The Town,
how much does the film owe The Departed for making it okay
to consider an R–rated crime drama? Should this genre get more
respect during awards season?
affleck: It’s easy to lump movies like these together. My
movie owes a lot to The Departed, it owes a lot to Mystic River,
and it owes a lot to Heat. Also The Friends of Eddie Coyle.
All are R–rated movies in that same vein, and the movies I
used as the gold standard of success here.
DeaDline: You’ve been part of two films that had magical Oscar
night results, in Good Will Hunting and Shakespeare in
Love. What are your best memories?
affleck: The great memory of Good Will Hunting was
going to the Oscars with Matt, and it all being really new.
Then we sat down and we were mentioned in Billy Crystal’s
opening monologue. That was the biggest deal to us, this
iconic guy, in his iconic role as host of the Oscars, mentioning
us. It felt like stepping through the looking glass, where
you are sitting at home watching television and all of a sudden
the television starts talking to you. And then we won
and that was a great highlight, something that was hard for
us to even absorb at that age. I was 25.
DeaDline: How about Shakespeare in Love?
affleck: Wonderful, just being part of that large group,
like a football team. I felt like the guy on the end of the
bench of a championship team. It was just fun to be included.
The fact it won stunned me.
DeaDline: Many still can’t believe it bested Saving
Private Ryan.
affleck: Saving Private Ryan is an astounding movie.
That opening sequence really changed forever how people
shot action sequences. It redefined the genre of intense,
powerful filmmaking. That debate is emblematic of what
I like about movies. It’s just a matter of what touches you,
and that’s what makes movies so wonderful.
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