Ben Affleck on politics after co-stars’ nudge: “A difficult grind”—would he go for it?
Ben Affleck settles the will-he-won’t-he question about a political run — with an answer you probably didn’t bet on.
On the red carpet at the Los Angeles Wednesday premiere of his new Netflix thriller Animal, Ben Affleck laughed off his castmates’ nudges that he should run for office. Asked by Variety how he took their encouragement, he deadpanned:
“Maybe they hate me.”
Then he made his stance crystal clear. Affleck said the job doesn’t appeal to him — not at all.
“Selfishly, I just see what a difficult grind of a job it is and I’d rather make movies about it.”
Onscreen mayor, offscreen activist
Affleck not only stars in Animal — playing a businessman who’s also running for mayor of Los Angeles — he directed and co-wrote the film. Offscreen, he’s long been politically active, having supported multiple Democratic campaigns over the years, including:
- Barack Obama
- Hillary Clinton
- Joe Biden
- Kamala Harris
His read on politics now
In the same conversation with Variety, Affleck criticized the current political climate as more performance than leadership. He called it an exhausting, broken grind that, in his view, leaves people across parties dissatisfied — another reason he prefers telling those stories through movies instead of chasing a seat himself.
About those Netflix “notes”
Affleck also addressed recent online chatter about Netflix’s creative notes after comments from his frequent collaborator Matt Damon were widely interpreted as a swipe at the streamer. Affleck pushed back on the idea that Netflix hands out uniquely odd mandates, saying tough studio notes have been part of the business for generations — not something new or exclusive to one company.
Affleck’s comments came at Animal’s Los Angeles premiere on Wednesday.