Ben Affleck (born Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt August 15, 1972) is an American film screenwriter, director, actor, and older brother of Casey Affleck. He became known in the mid 1990s, after his involvement in the film Mallrats, and has since become an Academy Award winner for his screenplay in Good Will Hunting in 1997. He has established himself as a Hollywood leading man, having starred in several big budget films, such as Armageddon, Pearl Harbor, Changing Lanes, The Sum of All Fears and Daredevil.
After high profile relationships with actress Gwyneth Paltrow in 1998, his relationship with actress/singer Jennifer Lopez attracted worldwide media attention in which Affleck and Lopez were dubbed as "Bennifer." Following their breakup in 2004, he began dating Jennifer Garner. The two married in June 2005 and welcomed their first child, Violet Anne Affleck, in December 2005. Affleck has been actively involved in politics, along with a non-profit organization called the A-T Children's Project. Along with childhood friend, Matt Damon, they founded the production company LivePlanet.
The actor and screenwriter has a half-dozen tattoos on his back, arms, and shoulders, including a barbwire design similar to Pamela Anderson on his bicep.
The leading man now says he regrets some of his tattoos, the first of which he received at the age of 16. "They get in the way of my being able to play someone else," he said in a recent interview. "Every time I'm sitting in a makeup chair or putting on a costume I'm reminded I'm me, not the person I'm supposed to be playing."
