by
Paul Fischer
Ben Affleck may be about to turn
30, but he wants it known that his upcoming party 
should
be no big deal. Parties aside, he says, laughingly, that "I'm not too fired
up about turning 30", but what it does mean for the young actor, "is
that all my friends who are my age are like getting married and having kids, so
I think: Oh, that's the point after which if you're not starting to think
about those things, you're not fun and in your twenties, immature and in your
thirties and have a Peter Pan complex," Affleck responds laughingly."
The actor does, of course, aspire to have a wife and family. "I really want
to do that eventually. I think that would be much more satisfying and interesting
for me, personally in my life, rather than just to continue to make movies and
do this. There is that other step of life, which is love, wife and children."
Affleck recognises that he is at a threshold in his life, following what has been
a difficult year for the Hollywood star. "I'm absolutely at a point where
I feel that what will be important to me is not just work but something
kind of beyond that. I really do want to have a family and take those steps and
I finally feel ready to do that." That also includes a much healthier life.
Affleck still fends off questions about last year's much publicised rehab stint.
"It's so much more important to me now to be healthy and take care of myself.
I've been working out a lot for Daredevil and I'm really maintaining a
healthy lifestyle, which feels so good. Obviously, that makes me happy, which
I prefer feeling than not, and that happiness doesn't necessarily hinge on whether
people like your movies or not."
These past 12 months have seen Affleck's face plastered on the covers of more tabloid rags than he'd care to discuss. In town to discuss his latest film, The Sum of all Fears, he said that he has learned how to deal with the tabloid media's obsession with his private life, insisting that he copes with it all, "mostly by realising that most of what is written is not written about me, but has more to do with the people writing it. I disassociate myself from it. All I can do is focus on my work and focus on being a good person, and properly conduct myself with my friends and family. I really can't do anything about the rest of it, so I just have to let it go."
Affleck's private life may have been in the spotlight, but that hasn't stalled his professional career. Currently shooting the comic book adventure Daredevil, the actor was recently seen in the critically acclaimed Changing Lanes, and currently stars as the "new" Jack Ryan in The Sum of all Fears, in which he plays the character as a rookie who inadvertently becomes involved in a terrorist plot against America. Affleck relished the chance to play Tom Clancy's CIA analyst, having, he said, "been a huge fan of both the movies and the books. I really loved this franchise, so it was a big deal for me to do this." Affleck is the third actor to step into Jack
Ryan's shoes, but as the character remains closely identifiable
with Harrison Ford, it was an even bigger deal for Affleck to step into
those particular shoes. "I certainly don't liken myself to Harrison
but obviously I'm a huge fan of his and only look at his career, and what he did,
with humility. I know I wouldn't have done this film if somehow I had to follow
what he did and step in and continue that", he explains. "When they
first called me about it I thought how impossible this was. What I thought was
interesting was taking it back; showing this guy when he was 
green,
new and a little bit unsure of himself and making mistakes. When you see who this
guy is before he polished himself up, when he was rough and uncertain, that
was something that Harrison Ford wouldn't do," Affleck laughs,"That
I knew I could do, playing a guy who was still learning on the job and still figuring
it out. I can't play an icon and I certainly can't follow one."
While Affleck says that it's hard work doing movies like Sum of all Fears, and Changing Lanes, to a different degree, that didn't stop him from starring in the physically exhausting Daredevil, another Marvel comic strip set to hit screens on Valentine's Day, 2003. "I had no qualms about doing that, because that was a comic that I so loved as a kid, that if I hadn't done it, I'd just hate myself." Part of the challenge for Affleck, was playing a kind of blind character in Daredevil, "because he's not exactly blind, because he has this kind of sonar ability, so he doesn't see through his eyes, but more in a 360 degree way, seeing more objects, than texture. That's been a challenge and quite hard, because is he blind or not blind? I don't have eyes at the back of my head, so I had to do all these tricks. They gave me these contact lenses that actually made me blind, but the problem with that was that I really do walk into tables and stuff, which [Matt] wouldn't do because he's a superhero. It's a challenge and we're working on it."
On future projects, Affleck says that he hasn't signed for any more Ryan films, "because the reality is, like any movie, Hollywood's basically success-driven. If the movie does well and people go see it, they'll want to do another one." The actor hopes to star in the new Kevin Smith film Jersey Girl, and hopes to continue his collaboration with his Oscar winning friend Matt Damon. We'll also see the star opposite Jennifer Lopez in the upcoming Gigli.
Wallpaper
from Daredevil is available in two sizes: 800x600
and 1024x768