Ben Affleck and his childhood friend
Matt Damon wrote and starred in the 1998 film
Good Will Hunting. The resulting Oscar for best original screenplay catapulted both to stardom. Affleck has appeared in independent films such as
Kevin Smith's
Chasing Amy (1997) and
Dogma (1999), but has also shown a taste for playing heroes in big-budget action movies such as
Armageddon (1998, with
Bruce Willis),
Pearl Harbor (2001, with
Josh Hartnett) and
Daredevil (2003, with his future wife
Jennifer Garner). In 2002 Affleck starred in
The Sum of All Fears, becoming the third star to play
Tom Clancy hero Jack Ryan; the CIA superstud was played by
Harrison Ford and
Alec Baldwin in previous films. He also starred in
Paycheck, the 2003 sci-fi adventure based on a story by
Philip K. Dick. Affleck married Jennifer Garner on 29 June 2005; the couple's first child, a daughter, was born on 1 December 2005. In 2006 he played actor
George Reeves in the movie
Hollywoodland, part of an all-star cast that included
Diane Lane and
Adrien Brody.
Extra credit: Affleck became engaged to singer and actress
Jennifer Lopez in 2002. The couple were dubbed "Bennifer" by tabloids, but broke up in January 2004... Affleck previously was known for his extended sometimes-romantic friendship with actress
Gwyneth Paltrow... His brother Casey Affleck is also an actor... In August of 2001, Ben Affleck announced he had checked himself into a Malibu alcohol rehabilitation clinic, where he joined comedian
Paula Poundstone and actor
Robert Downey, Jr. Copyright © 1998-2006 by Who2?, LLC. All rights reserved.
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