Ben Affleck Knew His Batman Movies 'Started to Skew Too Old' When His Son 'Was Too Scared to Watch' Them
While Ben Affleck said he initially took on the role of Batman to bond with his son Samuel, he's now revealing that it didn't pan out how he thought it would.
In a new interview with GQ, Affleck shared that while he loved doing the Batman movies, he learned that his iteration of the franchise might have been targeting a demographic that didn't exist.
"I loved doing the Batman movie," he began. "In terms of creatively, I really think that I like the idea and the ambition I had for it, which was of the sort of older, broken, damaged Bruce Wayne. And it was something we really went for in the first movie."
"But what happened was it started to skew too old for a big part of the audience," the dad of three said. "Like even my own son at the time was too scared to watch the movie. And so when I saw that, I was like, 'Oh s---, we have a problem.'"
Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Related: Ben Affleck Says He Took Batman Role for 'My Kids': 'I Wanted to Do Something My Son Would Dig'
Affleck shares Samuel, 13, and his two kids Violet, 19, and Seraphina, 16, with ex Jennifer Garner.
In 2021, the star said on The Hollywood Reporter's Awards Chatter podcast that taking on the role of Batman, starting with 2016's Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, was to score brownie points among his kids.
"I did Batman because I wanted to do it for my kids. I wanted to do something that my son would dig. I mean, my kids didn't see Argo," he said, referring to his 2012 drama, which won Best Picture at the Oscars. "I wore the suit to my son's birthday party, which was worth every moment of suffering on Justice League."
In February, Affleck was photographed alongside his son Samuel as the two enjoyed a night out together at the Los Angeles Lakers vs Minnesota Timberwolves basketball game. Affleck could be seen wearing a gray coat and dark jeans for their father-son evening out.
Next to Affleck, his son Samuel wore a black Lakers sweatshirt and gray sweatpants, mimicking his dad's smolder as the father-son duo posed for the camera.
Earlier that same month, Affleck and his son got in some quality time as they again sat courtside at the Crypto.com Arena while watching the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Golden State Warriors.
The father-son duo cheered on the Lakers as Samuel sported a jersey featuring LeBron James' number 23. The Oscar winner went more neutral with his look, in a tan turtleneck and matching blazer and pants.
Ben and Samuel were captured with matching expressions during one particularly exciting shot, with Samuel holding up three fingers and screaming as his excited dad watched the shot go in.
Read the original article on People
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
41 minutes ago
- Forbes
3 Questions To Ask Yourself To Boost Your Personal Brand
Who made Superman's personal brand what it is today? And what can you as an experienced leader learn ... More from that? Photo: Actor Brandon Routh launches the New Wax Figure of Superman from "Superman Returns" - June 27, 2006 at Madame Tussauds in New York, United States. (Photo by Michael Loccisano) As an experienced leader, your personal brand may not be as visible as Superman's. But just because you don't wear an S on your chest or a cape on your back, don't think your personal brand doesn't matter. In fact, if you suddenly find yourself job hunting, it's likely your personal brand that will determine whether or not you succeed. So what is your personal brand? And how do you boost it if it's not a matter of buying a shinier – and tighter – suit? In the movie, Batman Begins, Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne argues that people need dramatic examples to shake them out of apathy – and that he can't do that as a man: 'As a man, I'm flesh and blood, I can be ignored, I can be destroyed. But as a symbol… As a symbol, I can be incorruptible. I can be everlasting.' Is that the answer to what your personal brand is? A symbol that makes you incorruptible and everlasting? As opposed to a man – or woman – of flesh and blood? With the promises of AGI flooding the news, it's tempting to say yes. After all, the job market is insatiable when it comes to people and machines that can out-think, out-pace, and out-perform other people and machines. And doesn't that call for super-human leaders who can shake everyone out of apathy? Before you rush to decide on a symbol that can neither be ignored nor destroyed, let's ask who made Superman and Batman's personal brands what they are today. Was it their alter egos, Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne? The comic book writers who invented the superheroes? The actors who embodied them on screen? Or the millions of readers and viewers who have followed them through generations? Of course, there is no single answer to who created Superman and Batman's personal brands. And the same goes for you and your personal brand. No matter how much time you spend defining who you are and what you want others to think and say about you, you cannot control how you are perceived. What you can – and should – do is ask yourself three questions that have guided flesh and blood humans for millennia. In the early 1700s, the German philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz came up with what is often described as the greatest philosophical question of all, namely: why is there something rather than nothing? This may seem like a peculiar question – not least in the context of personal branding. But reminding yourself of how Leibniz took the age-old question of why our universe is the way it is to the next level by asking why there is a universe at all can actually be a really good way to boost your personal brand. In addition to asking yourself questions about your personal values and career goals, asking questions that put you and your contribution as a leader in the greatest possible context will help you focus your efforts where they matter most. After all, if there is no industry, company, product, or customer demand for you to lead, your values and career goals will be as redundant as Batman without Gotham. So to boost you personal brand, don't focus on your personal brand. Instead, focus on why there is something rather than nothing for you to lead. And how you can help take industries, companies, products and customers to the next level. Great philosophical questions can be divided into three categories. Epistemological questions about how we know what (we think) we know – e.g. 'why is there something rather than nothing?' Ethical questions about what is the right thing to do. And existential questions about who we are as humans. Common to these three categories of questions is that no one – least of all a machine – can answer them for you. Also, they cannot be answered once and for all. And with ethical questions, like 'what is the right thing to do?', you must not only ask them again and again, you must ask them again and again – each day! While the advantage of being a symbol is that you can, in the words of Bruce Wayne, be incorruptible and everlasting, the advantage of being human is that you cannot. You can become corrupt, and you will eventually die. 'How is this an advantage?', you might ask. And you should. It only takes one bad decision to destroy your personal brand. And there are no guarantees. Even when you think you're making all the right decisions based on all the right answers, others may see it differently. And that's the advantage of being human: that your personal brand is negotiable. Changeable. Evolving. Just as it only takes one bad decision to destroy your personal brand, it only takes one question to start fixing it. It's not your answer to 'What is the right thing to do?' that make or break your personal brand. It's your willingness to keep asking it. Being corruptible, negotiable, and changeable is not only essential to your personal brand. It's essential to being you. Unlike Clark Kent and Superman, and Bruce Wayne and Batman, you and your personal brand are not two distinctive entities. Your flesh and blood is indistinguishable from your personal brand and vice versa. That's why you act differently in different situations. While Batman, who, in the words of the Joker, is destined to do the same thing forever, you are neither 'an unstoppable force' (like the Joker describes himself) nor 'an immovable object' (like Batman). You, like the people on the boats in The Dark Knight Rises, act according to who you are right here and right now. Sometimes you do as expected, sometimes you don't. Being a flesh and blood human as opposed to a symbol means asking the existential questions that help you assess and adapt to the situations you find yourself in. While the promise of AGI and superheroes is to out-think, out-pace, and out-perform everything and everyone, your job as a human leader is to see and hear the world from within. Like the industries, companies, products, and people you lead, you are a temporal being. You occupy a specific place at a specific time in history that enables you to see, hear, and act on some things and prevents you from seeing, hearing, and acting on others. It is because you are situated that you are able to take a position, make your perspective count, and build a personal brand. Not in spite of it. Because you cannot be everywhere at once, it matters where you choose to spend your time now. And now. Every moment, you prioritize and focus on something instead of something else. Someone instead of someone else. This prioritization and focus is what determines whether or not you succeed. In your job hunt and everything else.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Angelina Jolie Ready To Reveal Ugly Truth About Marriage With Brad Pitt, Claims ‘Source'
Angelina Jolie is reportedly ready to share her perspective on her turbulent marriage and divorce history with . After eight years of their legal battle, they are seemingly opening up about their respective side of the story. A source described Jolie's side as 'the good, the bad and the ugly,' suggesting the actor had a lot to share. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, whose divorce settlements nearly took a decade, drew widespread attention when they ended their marriage. The couple had been together since 2004 and got married in 2014. However, only after two years of marriage, they separated. Now that their divorce is officially settled, an exclusive report from RadarOnline suggested that Jolie was ready to speak her truth. According to the tabloid, a source close to Jolie claimed she was silent about Pitt out of necessity, not choice. They said, 'There was so much Angelina wanted to say while she was going through it but couldn't.' The source added, 'Now there's really nothing stopping her, and she wants to tell her side of the story.' However, before she reveals the behind-the-scenes of the ordeal to the public, Jolie's top priority is her children. As per RadarOnline, the 'Maleficent' actor wants to tell the truth to her six children — Maddox, Pax, Zahara, Shiloh, Knox, and Vivienne. 'She's talking to them more about what happened between her and Brad — the good, the bad and the ugly,' the source said. The individual added, 'They deserve to know the truth and she wants it to come from her.' Meanwhile, Pitt is busy with the promotion of his new film, 'F1.' During a recent GQ interview, he side-stepped the divorce, remarking, 'I don't think it was that major of a thing,' calling it 'just something coming to fruition. Legally.' For Jolie, the legal settlement signalled the start of a new life outside of LA. Sources close to the Oscar winner reported that she wanted to settle in either Europe or Cambodia once her twins turned 18. The post Angelina Jolie Ready To Reveal Ugly Truth About Marriage With Brad Pitt, Claims 'Source' appeared first on Reality Tea.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Aimee Lou Wood Says This White Lotus Character Was Killed Off In 'Fake' Death To Avoid Spoilers
The mystery around which character will die in each season of The White Lotus is what keeps us hooked from the get-go, and creators took some pretty big steps to avoid spoilers in the show's third outing. And be warned – there are plenty of those ahead… Season three of Mike White's dark comedy-drama concluded back in April with one of its most explosive finales yet. The most recent Thailand-set instalment threw some pretty big curveballs our way before it was finally revealed that three characters ultimately met their ends at the resort: Walton Goggins' Rick, Aimee Lou Wood's Chelsea and Jim Hollinger played by Scott Glenn. During a recent interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live, Aimee shared that a 'fake death' was planted on the schedule during the shoot, just in case the news was leaked to the press. She then revealed that the call sheet's red herring suggested it would be Natasha Rothwell's season one OG Belinda – the spa worker who spent the latest series in a frosty standoff relating to the death of Jennifer Coolidge's iconic character Tanya – who would meet her end. 'I started going, 'OK that's clever that we've put a fake ending so it doesn't get out,' the Sex Education star said. 'But then I started going, 'This is Mike White. And he loves messing with people. So what if I'm filming the fake death? What if that's the real death?' She went on to say: 'When I was watching it, there was a little part of me that thought, 'Is he gonna surprise me and Chelsea lives?'.' Aimee also revealed that she was privy to her character's fate from as early as the auditions. 'I knew the whole time, and then you have to just kind of put it out of your head, because Chelsea doesn't know she's going to die,' she told the talk show host. Speaking to GQ in a recent interview, Aimee revealed that her character's fate weighed heavily on her throughout proudction. 'I was obsessed with Amy Winehouse and Brittany Murphy, all these women I love and admire who died too young,' she told the outlet. 'I look at them and see what they could have done. And they didn't get to do it.' Aimee then revealed that even creator Mike worried about whether he had chosen the right character to sacrifice. 'He doubted it a lot. He came up to me a few times and said, 'Are people going to hate me too much? I don't know if this is too far,'' she shared. 'She's the most hopeful character on the show and that's why she has to die, but obviously on a human level it is really fricking sad.' Aimee and her co-star Walton recently revealed that there was a deleted intimate scene in the show's finale that might have helped soften the blow of their untimely departures. At the same time, the pair put rumours to bed that there was any bad blood between them after speculation of a falling out swirled following the show's conclusion. 21 Best Behind-The-Scenes Stories From The White Lotus Cast About Their Time On Set These Were All The Clues Foreshadowing What Went Down In The White Lotus Finale Where Will The White Lotus Be Heading For Season 4? Here's Everything We Know
