Ben Affleck opens up about 'Animals', Matt Damon and being a ‘tarnished leading man’

For 'Animals', Affleck reunited professionally with Damon behind the scenes through Artists Equity, their company

Ben Affleck has opened up about his new film Animals, his long friendship with Matt Damon and why he has embraced being described as a “tarnished leading man”.

Affleck stars in, directs and co-writes Animals, a crime thriller about a Los Angeles mayoral candidate whose son is kidnapped, forcing him and his wife, played by Kerry Washington, into a desperate attempt to secure the ransom.

The film was originally set to reunite Affleck and Damon on screen, with Damon attached to star alongside Jennifer Garner. However, Damon ultimately left the project to work on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, with Affleck later taking on the leading role himself. Damon remains involved as a producer.

Affleck said he understood why Damon chose The Odyssey, describing Nolan’s film as the kind of large-scale production that has become increasingly rare.

“The whole David Lean, pack up 300 people and sail around the world and use all these extras and do everything in camera on film is going away,” Affleck said. He added that working on a Christopher Nolan film of that scale was a “once in a lifetime experience”.

Affleck also revealed that he and Damon had spoken about the possibility of their careers reaching a point where opportunities like The Odyssey could become less frequent.

“All the time,” Affleck said when asked whether they had discussed it. He explained that the changing nature of blockbuster filmmaking had made such productions increasingly unusual.

For Animals, Affleck eventually reunited professionally with Damon behind the scenes through Artists Equity, the production company they founded together. The film also became an opportunity for Affleck to explore themes that had become increasingly important to him, particularly morality, marriage and the choices people make when their carefully constructed lives fall apart.

Affleck said the film asks whether people are genuinely moral or primarily motivated by their own interests. The kidnapping at the centre of the story forces his character and Washington’s character to confront what happens when “the mask comes off”.

The actor also addressed his reputation as a “tarnished leading man”, a description he has previously used when discussing the kinds of characters he finds most interesting.

“I think any good actor’s interested in playing” characters who are not simply two-dimensional or completely virtuous, Affleck said. He explained that characters with flaws and complicated histories offer more opportunities to explore human behaviour.

Affleck said he no longer feels resigned to that description, arguing that the imperfections associated with his public image can make his work more interesting.

“I’m not going to try to pretend that everything I do has always been happy and cheerful and perfect,” he said. “It hasn’t.”

Animals is set to arrive in select cinemas and on Netflix on October 9.