“The trap for an actor is that you become too successful at what you’re trying to do, and you can find yourself stuck there,” he says. “As an actor there’s so many ways that it can go wrong for you, and so few ways it can go right.”

“I do have a better sense of myself than I did before. In 1998 [after the success of Good Will Hunting], everything was so new. I was trying to figure it out as I went along. It was trial and error. Eventually you go through this stuff and you figure some things out. A lot of it you learn by mistakes, some of it by success. I feel good, and maybe a little bit smarter. I have a strong sense of where I want to go.“

Although Ben Affleck was born in Berkely, California, he was brought up on the other side of the country in Cambridge, Massachusetts.  His father was a social worker and his mother was a teacher, but they divorced.  He apparently always wanted to act, and worked in television as a child, where he first met life-long friend and sometime collaborator, Matt Damon at the age of 8.  He made two attempts at further education, dropping out of both after just a short time.  His big break as an actor was in Dazed and Confused in 1993. After a couple of notable Indy roles, and becoming frustrated with missing out on star roles, he and Damon wrote Good Will Hunting which did indeed bring him fame and fortune, even notoriety.  A series of poor choices in film roles led to a decline in his star power, but marriage to Jennifer Garner and becoming a father seem to have been very good for him and has culminated in his first directorial effort, Gone Baby Gone, starring his younger brother, Casey.  The film has had great critical acclaim and has been nominated for many awards.