Ben Affleck Says This Movie Was the Hardest Thing He Ever Had To Do

Ben Affleck has never been one to shy away from the reality of his early career. Long before he was an Oscar-winning director, he was often typecast as the “unlikable” antagonist in films like School Ties.

However, as his stardom reached new heights following Good Will Hunting, he found himself at the center of massive summer blockbusters that tested his physical and professional limits. One of his first major experiences with the “blockbuster machine” was the 1998 film Armageddon, which he famously viewed with a healthy dose of realism.

While the actor has famously poked fun at the movie’s logic over the years, he looks back at the production as a vital learning experience. He admitted to GQ that he went into the project knowing they weren’t making an art movie and were instead creating something meant for pure entertainment.

He credited his coworkers and the crew for teaching him about professionalism, noting that the experience was a lot of fun despite the fact that he knew it wasn’t an Oscar-type project.

The momentum from that hit led him straight into Michael Bay’s next massive undertaking, Pearl Harbor. For this role, Affleck had to endure a grueling pre-ranger training course that pushed him to his absolute breaking point.

He recalled the experience as being incredibly agonizing and painful, admitting that he would have definitely quit the first day if the embarrassment of failing hadn’t kept him going. To this day, he considers that boot camp to be the hardest challenge he has ever completed.

Beyond the physical toll of basic training, Affleck also had to learn the technical side of his character by taking actual flying lessons. Despite the misery of the early training, he found it personally satisfying to finish the course and eventually be treated like a normal human being by the drill sergeants.

He noted that the ordeal made him appreciate his surroundings much more once the cameras actually started rolling on the historical epic. When the movie finally debuted, it faced a wave of criticism for its historical inaccuracies, but Affleck has always kept a balanced perspective on its legacy.

He argued that the film wasn’t as bad as people said, pointing out that it was a massive financial success that earned over a billion dollars. He noted that in the film industry, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose, and there are even times when you succeed, but the narrative says otherwise.

As of February, Ben Affleck is more focused on his work behind the camera and his partnership with Matt Damon through their company, Artists Equity. He recently made waves on the streaming charts with the January 16 release of the action-thriller The Rip.

Directed by Joe Carnahan, the film follows a group of Miami cops who find a stash of cash and stars Affleck alongside Damon, Steven Yeun, and Kyle Chandler. The project made headlines not just for its plot, but for a landmark deal that saw Netflix pay out performance-based bonuses to the crew for the first time.

Do you think Ben Affleck’s shift toward directing gritty crime thrillers like Animals is where his true talent lies, or do you still prefer him in the high-budget action roles of his earlier career? Share your thoughts in the comments.