Quentin Tarantino raves about The Rip; Ben Affleck replies, "Taken for Granted"

Sitting down with GQ’s Zach Baron for the outlet’s One More Question series, Ben Affleck unpacked Quentin Tarantino’s take that some of his earlier work with Matt Damon has been “taken for granted” — and he pulled Harrison Ford into the conversation to explain why that happens.

“It sounds to me like kind of what he's getting at there is a basic truth, which is that familiarity, well, for one thing, creates the sense of something is not special or new,” he said. “And also not every movie works.”

“From the inside of this world, I look at it kind of as more of a batting average thing,” he said.

Affleck pointed to Ford’s legendary run of massive hits as the rare exception, noting that it’s tough for any actor to sustain that level without taking swings that won’t always connect. Playing it safe, he suggested, can be dull; the interesting stuff lives in the risks.

The comments came on the heels of strong reactions to Affleck and Damon’s thriller The Rip, which drew praise for its bruising action and the duo’s easy, lived-in chemistry. Tarantino singled out the new film in his review while arguing that some of their past pairings didn’t get full credit at the time.

Next up: Animals on Netflix

Affleck and Damon were supposed to roll straight into another project, Animals, with Affleck writing and directing and Damon set to star. Delays reportedly pushed Damon out, and Affleck ended up both directing and headlining the film himself.

The crime thriller follows Los Angeles mayoral candidate Mark Kimball and his wife, Abigail, after their son is kidnapped — forcing them to leverage every resource they have to secure the ransom. Affleck plays Mark, with Kerry Washington as Abigail, and they’re joined by a stacked supporting cast.

• Ben Affleck — Mark Kimball
• Kerry Washington — Abigail
• Gillian Anderson
• Steven Yeun
• Luis Gerardo Méndez
• Adriana Paz

Animals will stream on Netflix after its release on October 9, 2026 .