Ben Affleck is opening up about one of Hollywood’s harshest lessons: Some people who celebrate your success may disappear the moment your career starts falling apart. And despite being one of the most prominent and successful stars, the California-born actor has had some resentment about the cynical nature of the industry in which he thrived.
The 54-year-old actor recalled the painful experience during an appearance on New Heights, the podcast hosted by NFL stars Travis Kelce and Jason Kelce. Affleck explained that after achieving fame at a young age, he felt pressured to keep accepting movie roles because he feared his opportunities would eventually dry up.
That fear became reality in the early 2000s, when several of his films flopped and work became harder to find. Affleck said the most painful part was watching people he thought he could count on suddenly stop communicating with him.
“People I thought were my friends didn’t want to talk to me, they wouldn’t return my calls, they avoided me,” he recalled. “And I realized, oh, okay. Like that was the Hollywood moment where I was like, these people really aren’t your friends.”
One of the biggest setbacks was Gigli, his 2003 romantic comedy starring Jennifer Lopez. The movie was a commercial disaster, earning only around $7 million worldwide against a reported production budget of $75 million. The backlash contributed to a difficult period in Affleck’s career, leaving him questioning his place in Hollywood.
Lesson Learned for Ben Affleck
Affleck’s fortunes eventually changed when he moved into directing. His 2010 crime drama The Town, which he directed and starred in, earned approximately $154 million worldwide and helped restore his reputation. He recalled receiving around 10 phone calls from people he had not heard from in three or four years after the movie’s success. His agent summed up the situation with a blunt response: “We’ll welcome all the old friends back.”
Rather than letting the experience consume him, Affleck said he learned to stop tying his self-worth to public attention and professional success. “Don’t get overinflated, and don’t get yourself too attached to how the world treats you,” he said. “One day it treats you one way, and the next day another, you have to keep an even keel.”
His comments struck a chord with Reddit users, many of whom said the experience was relatable even outside the entertainment industry. “Makes sense why he and Matt Damon keep their friendship so sacred and high on the list of priorities,” one commenter wrote, pointing to Affleck’s longtime bond with his childhood friend and frequent collaborator.
Another referenced a memorable line from Everything Everywhere All at Once when it comes to Affleck and Damon’s friendship, writing, “In another life, I would have really liked just writing scripts and making movies with you.” Others shared similar experiences with fair-weather friends. “Most people are fair weather friends, yes, it’s not just unique to Ben,” one commenter observed, arguing that people often gravitate toward those they believe can benefit them.
For Affleck, the experience was a painful reminder that Hollywood friendships can sometimes be as fleeting as fame itself. While his career eventually bounced back, the lesson stayed with him: When the chips are down, it’s the people who stick around who truly matter.
