On Friday, Dec. 5, I had the opportunity to sit in on a phone interview with Ben Affleck. College students around the country posed for Affleck to answer. Affleck was promoting his new movie Paycheck, directed by John Woo. Paycheck is about Michael Jennings (Affleck), an electrician who has had part of his memory erased. Jennings struggles to find clues to his whereabouts for the past two years.
Here is what he had to say:
*Editor's Note: Not all questions were posed by justArts. All questions from all colleges are included in this article.*


justArts: How does Paycheck stretch your skills as an actor?

Ben Affleck: With a lot of action movies, it is just about the action. This movie also pays attention to the actor and the role. You have to immerse yourself into the role.


JA: What was it like working with John Woo?

BA: It was a huge honor for me. Surprisingly, he was incredibly sweet for someone who's made so many "shoot 'em up" movies. He sees the movie as a choreographed dance. It was all for the feeling that John wanted to evoke. It was a true education for me.


JA: How was this action character different from the Daredevil character?

BA: Well, first of all, Daredevil was blind. This [character] was also closer to home for me. I was always into computers and pulling them apart to see how they work. So the reversed engineer was what I liked. Also, the character has his history erased. This is similar to my life in the sense of lacking privacy and anonymity.


JA : You seem to really make an effort to have a diverse set of roles. Very often you play different types of roles. Is it a conscious effort on your part to diversify so not to be branded?

BA: It is absolutely a conscious effort on my part to try to do diverse stuff. I think of acting as a decathlon, and therefore actors have to be decathletes. You can win a decathlon without being the best at any one event. One of my goals is to look back on my career and to say I did a lot of genres from drama to comedy to romance to action to horror to independent to unusual movies. I think that's one of my greatest assets and hopefully it will keep me working for a while. It also serves to prevent typecasting. A good example is a movie I just finished called "Surviving Christmas" which will be out next Christmas. It was a very broad comedy, and it's a film you would normally see Jim Carey or Mike Myers or someone like that in, and its something I thought was risky, but it was something I wanted to do. That is a very astute point, and I'm glad someone noticed.


JA: Which movie genre do you prefer to work in? Indie films like Good Will Hunting, and anything by Kevin Smith, or action films like Armageddon and Paycheck?

BA: It's hard to say. Each one is fun and exciting in its own way. There's sometimes a more diverse set of challenge in a different kind of movie. Changing Lanes is an example of that. People say it was an action movie, but I would say it is more of a drama. Working with Kevin and doing his movies have been especially satisfying because he's a dear old friend of mine, so that has certain added bonus to it. And with Good Will Hunting I got to do it with my brother [Casey Affleck and] Matt [Damon], and that was really wonderful for that reason. But I've always liked Hollywood popcorn movies. Once you've done one of those, you don't want to do another one soon, but after doing a number of kitchen sink dramas you think, wouldn't it be fun to do a spectacular Hollywood epic? If you ask someone who just finished Lord of the Rings, I'm sure they would never want to do another one of those again.


JA: You worked with Uma Thurman in this film. How is her acting style different from other actress you have worked with?

BA: Uma is a great actress, but one thing that was pleasant to see that out of everyone I've worked with, she was the most professional and down to earth. She shows up, does her job and does it very well. She's also one of the most grounded people I know. She's got two kids, and she's a really great mother. She's a smart and educated woman. She's got the whole package, she's great. I love the Kill Bill movies, so I got to harass her about that.


JA: If your memory was erased, what memory would you chose to keep and what would you choose to erase?

BA: It is hard to choose just one memory to keep, but I whatever I chose would have my family and close friends that I grew up with so I would understand who I am and where I came from and what's important. And in terms of erasing memories, I think even the bad memories make us who we are, so anything I would forget would make me a less strong person, so I would not erase anything.


JA: What can science fiction and action fans expect from [Paycheck]?

BA: If you are a sci-fi fan like I am you probably like Blade Runner and Total Recall, and this is similar to those because it's the same novelist. And if you like action films, all you need is to hear the two words: "John" and "Woo," and here you have the intersection of both those artists, and it's pretty exciting. You'll enjoy the film even if you're not a fan of those genres, but if you are, I wouldn't miss it.


Paycheck is currently playing in movie theaters around the country.