The Oscars snub that crushed Ben Affleck: “It’s never gonna happen”
Ben Affleck has an extremely impressive batting average at the Academy Awards. The A-lister has been nominated twice, for ‘Best Original Screenplay’ and ‘Best Picture,’ and he won both times. Most people would think a celebrated actor/director like him would be satisfied with that record on the biggest night in the Hollywood calendar, but dig a little deeper, and you’ll find turmoil beneath the glory.
Affleck was only 25 when he and his best buddy Matt Damon stood on the Oscars stage, trophies in hand, thanking everyone they knew after winning for the Good Will Hunting script that launched their careers. It was an incredible start to a career that seemingly augured well for future critical acclaim and awards glory – but that wasn’t exactly how it worked out.
Over the next 16 years, Affleck held on for dear life as the Hollywood rollercoaster took him to the very top of the industry as a leading man, to the depths of despair after making several expensive duds in a row. His relationship with Jennifer Lopez made him a lightning rod for the media intrusion that disrupts many celebrities’ lives, and critics often lampooned him for what they perceived as a lack of acting ability.
However, everyone loves a good comeback story, and Affleck was able to do just that when he made a welcome pivot in his career. He stepped behind the camera for the 2007 crime drama Gone Baby Gone, starring his brother Casey, and it was such a critical darling that he was granted a much larger budget for his next directorial effort, bank robber thriller The Town. Affleck chose to star in that film as well as direct, and suddenly he was back on top of the food chain.
Indeed, Affleck’s career had experienced such a 180 that he could virtually write his own ticket for his next movie. He chose to direct and star in Argo, a political thriller about the real-life CIA operative who concocted a fake movie production as an elaborate cover for rescuing six American diplomats from Tehran during the 1979-81 Iran hostage crisis. Once again, Affleck hit it out of the park, with Argo receiving the best reviews of his career and banking more at the box office than The Town and Gone Baby Gone combined.
Affleck rode that wave of positivity into the 85th Academy Awards, where Argo was nominated for seven trophies, including ‘Best Picture,’ ‘Best Supporting Actor’ for Alan Arkin, ‘Best Adapted Screenplay,’ and ‘Best Film Editing.’ However, nods for ‘Best Actor’ and ‘Best Director’ were conspicuous by their absence, and this stuck in Affleck’s craw from the day nominations were announced.
“It was the big snub, right?” Affleck grumbled to Howard Stern in 2021. “Of course, I get up that morning, go sit in front of the TV. And I did assume I was gonna get nominated. Because everybody said I would. So, all these people must know. And they read those names, and I remember thinking, ‘It’s never gonna happen. I’m never gonna get it.'”
To make matters worse, Affleck admitted that people in the industry had convinced him to play the game if he wanted a nomination. It’s a sad reality of the Oscars that it’s often those who campaign the hardest who receive nominations, as opposed to it being 100% based on merit. So, Affleck did his part, kissing babies and schmoozing every tastemaker he could find. “That really taught me a lot. I did everything they told me,” he remembered. “Part of this is because you’re the director, but the truth is, I wanted it.”
Instead of receiving one or both of the nominations he felt would validate his resurgence, though, Affleck came up snake eyes, and he was angry. He immediately phoned Warner Bros and said he’d never take part in Oscar campaigning again, and then walked the red carpet at the Critics’ Choice Awards, fielding questions about the snub. “You have to pretend that you’re OK,” he said. “Pretend it didn’t bother you.”
In the end, Argo won three Oscars, and Affleck was ecstatic for screenwriter Chris Terrio and editor William Goldenberg’s triumphs. However, even when he won ‘Best Picture’ – which he shared with producers George Clooney and Grant Heslov – he couldn’t help thinking, “Yeah, we got ‘Picture,’ but they made sure to leave me out. We had ‘Editing,’ ‘Score,’ ‘Picture.’ The only guy who fucked up was the lead and the director? I can do the math on who the asshole is here.”
