The success of Good Will Hunting propelled both Ben Affleck and best friend Matt Damon into stardom. In the past, the press portrayed Affleck more as a sidekick to Matt Damon but this was highly misleading. Ben Affleck has shown himslef to be a terrific actor in his own right. Ben was born in Berkeley, California, but moved to Cambridge Massachusetts when he was three. Affleck acquired the acting bug early on and attended drama schools along with Matt Damon. When they got older and Damon headed off to Harvard, Affleck pursued an acting career immediately. He soon got a couple of roles in television mini-series, Danielle Steele's "Daddy" being the most important. Affleck soon parlayed his television success into bigger and better things.
Next up for Ben would be "School Ties", a college drama that also featured buddy Matt Damon. One year later came the cult classic, Dazed and Confused. The film made him a hit amongst the angst-ridden Generation X, and he soon followed it up with a string of offbeat movies. Mallrats, Glory Daze, and Chasing Amy, added to his repertoire. During this time he developed a good friendship with director Kevin Smith, without whose help Good Will Hunting would never have been made.
It seemed like Ben Affleck was prepped to be the next big thing, but fate made Damon the big star. Or so it seemed....
Since Good Will Hunting, Affleck has been on a role. He has temporarily left behind the small indie roles which made him famous and has experienced a rebirth as a leading man and action hero. His role in Armageddon, seemed to many critics to be a passing of the torch from older action star Bruce Willis to Affleck.
