Ben Affleck's birthday

What do ‘Good Will Hunting’, ‘Batman’ and J.Lo have in common? It doesn’t take a genius to figure out the link is Hollywood actor Ben Affleck. He’s played the hero, the bad guy, the intellectual, the adulterer, and many more. But, there’s so much more to know about him.

Family Background

Ben Affleck was born August 15, 1972. Although he was born in Berkeley, California, he had moved to Massachusetts by the time he was three.

According to records, Ben Affleck isn’t his full name. His actual name is Benjamin Geza Affleck-Boldt. Boldt is his mother’s surname but many people have wondered about the origins of the name Geza. Affleck himself has said his middle name comes from the story of a holocaust survivor. A Hungarian man named Geza survived the ordeal of the holocaust and was a family friend so Ben received the name as a way to honor him.

His father was a janitor at Harvard University. Thinking of this, most people would be reminded of the well-known character in ‘Good Will Hunting’, a movie written and created by Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, where Damon’s character is a genius working as a janitor in an Ivy League institution. It turns out Ben’s college girlfriend was also a janitor at Harvard for a short time, so it’s not hard to see where he drew his inspiration from.

Another interesting fact to know about Ben’s family is that they were once slave owners. It’s certainly not something anyone in Hollywood would want people finding out and Affleck was no different. The PBS show ‘Finding Your Roots’ found out that his ancestry included slave owners. The actor asked PBS to suppress the information out of fear it would harm his image.

In true Hollywood style, the information got out anyway and Affleck was left to apologize and explain why he wanted the information kept quiet. His response- ‘I was embarrassed’.

Life

It’s no secret that Ben has struggled with substance misuse in the past. However, most people don’t know that it was Charlie Sheen who helped him get clean. Sheen drove Affleck to rehab in Malibu himself and helped him check in.

At a later date, Ben would offer the same kindness to actress Lindsay Lohan. In 2013, Affleck visited Lohan in rehab to give her a pep talk.

He also likes to try his hand at gambling but did you know he was banned from the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino? While playing card games at the high-rollers table, he was spotted card counting and removed from the hotel.

Relationships

Ben has dated some of the most beautiful women in Hollywood, starting with Gwyneth Paltrow in 1997. After three years they ended their relationship and two years later, Ben found love with none other than Jennifer Lopez. 

The couple were due to be married in 2003 but media coverage was so heavy that they decided to postpone. By 2005, Affleck was married to another woman, Jennifer Garner, and the pair had three children together. They later divorced in 2015 and Ben is now happily married to Jennifer Lopez.

Career

When it comes to his career, he’s a perfectionist. Affleck was unhappy with parts of the Batman movie script so he would sit dressed as Batman and rewrite the script the same day he was shooting the movie. It was nothing to do with gaining inspiration from the character – just last minute organization.

Ben Affleck is nothing if not adaptable and interesting.