Ben Affleck is a two-time Academy Award winner who has been recognized for his work as a director, actor, writer and producer.
Affleck most recently directed, produced and starred in the award-winning hit Argo, a fact-based drama about the then-classified mission to rescue six Americans trapped in Iran during the hostage crisis. The most acclaimed film of 2012, Argo swept the year's top honors, including the Oscar®, Golden Globe and BAFTA Award for Best Picture. Affleck also won Golden Globe, BAFTA and Critics' Choice Awards for Best Director and was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actor. In addition, he won a Directors Guild of America Award; a Producers Guild of America Award, shared with George Clooney and Grant Heslov; and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award® as a member of the film's ensemble, which won for Outstanding Motion Picture Cast. The cast also garnered Best Ensemble Awards from the National Board of Review, Hollywood Film Awards, and the Palm Springs International Film Festival. Among its many other honors, the film won Oscars® for Best Screenplay and Best Editing, earned four more Oscar® nominations, and was named one of the top 10 outstanding films of the year by the American Film Institute (AFI), as well as numerous critics.
Affleck made his directorial debut in 2007 with the feature Gone Baby Gone, for which he earned several critics groups' awards, including the Best Directorial Debut Award from the National Board of Review. Additionally, he won the Breakthrough Director of the Year Award at the 2007 Hollywood Film Festival. Affleck also co-wrote the screenplay for the film, adapted from the Dennis Lehane novel.
In 2010, Affleck directed and starred in The Town, in addition to co-writing the screenplay. The film was named among the top 10 films of the year by the AFI and the cast won the National Board of Review Award for Best Ensemble. Affleck received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for The Town, which also brought Oscar®, Golden Globe and SAG Award® nominations to co-star Jeremy Renner. His most recent movie was the runaway blockbuster Gone Girl, directed by David Fincher. Upcoming projects include Warner Bros' Batman vs Superman and Live by Night, based on the Dennis Lehane novel and a biopic about notorious mobster Whitey Bulger, in which he and Matt Damon will star.
Affleck first came to prominence in 1997 with the acclaimed drama Good Will Hunting, which he starred in and co-wrote with Damon. The two won an Academy Award® for Best Original Screenplay, as well as a Golden Globe Award and Humanitas Prize. The following year, Affleck starred in John Madden's Oscar®-winning Shakespeare in Love, sharing in a SAG Award® for Outstanding Motion Picture Cast. In 2006, Affleck earned widespread praise for his portrayal of ill-fated actor George Reeves in the noir drama Hollywoodland. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where he won the coveted Volpi Award for Best Actor. He also received Golden Globe and Critics' Choice Award nominations for Best Actor, as well as the Best Actor Award at the Hollywood Film Festival. Affleck more recently starred in Terrence Malick's To the Wonder. He has also starred in such diverse films as The Company Men, State of Play, He's Just Not That Into You, Jersey Girl, Daredevil, The Sum of All Fears,Changing Lanes, Pearl Harbor, Boiler Room, Forces of Nature and Armageddon.
In 2000, Affleck partnered with Matt Damon, Chris Moore and Sean Bailey to form LivePlanet, Inc. Their first endeavor, Project Greenlight, premiered in 2001 on HBO and drew critical, audience and industry attention for its behind-the-scenes look at the challenges faced by a first-time filmmaker. The second season of Project Greenlight aired on HBO in 2003, with a third season on Bravo in 2005. All three seasons were nominated for Emmy® Awards.
In addition to his successful film career, Affleck is also a passionate advocate and philanthropist. In March 2010, he founded the Eastern Congo Initiative (ECI), the first U.S.-based advocacy and grant-making initiative wholly focused on the mission of helping the people of eastern Congo support local community-based approaches that create a sustainable and successful society in the long-troubled region. Affleck is also a longtime political activist, as well as a strong supporter of many charitable organizations, including Feeding America, Paralyzed Veterans of America, A-T Children's Project and the Jimmy Fund.
