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Ben Affleck’s Fame Helped With Gone Girl Role, Actor Talks Batman Backlash

Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike on the cover of Entertainment Weekly
Ben Affleck said that fame helped him get into character for his Gone Girl role and talked about his Batman backlash in the new issue of Entertainment Weekly

Being in the public eye since the late '90s has helped shape Ben Affleck's dramatic characterizations. The Oscar winner admitted in the latest issue of Entertainment Weekly that being in the spotlight helped him get into character as Nick Dunne, a man who is hounded by news outlets after his wife Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) mysteriously disappears, in the upcoming drama Gone Girl.

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"It wasn't something I had to do a lot of research for," Affleck, 41, told EW. "I knew what it was like to have the tabloid world paying attention to me and ascribing negative motivations to whatever I might be engaging in." (Still one of today's most talked-about actors, Affleck graced countless covers during his high-profile romance with Jennifer Lopez from 2002 to 2004, otherwise known as the Bennifer years.) He added: "I knew what it was to be cast in a soap opera I had no control over."

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Indeed, director David Fincher admits Affleck's experience in front of flashing bulbs and knowing "what it's like to be hunted" played a part when it came to casting the star.

"We knew we needed somebody who was charming and could be seductive, who could be a ladies' man, a guy's guy, a frat boy," Fincher told the mag. "But most important, [someone] who had the wits and experience of knowing that situation. The gift of having Ben Affleck is that this is a guy who knows. He knows what a lose-lose situation is and understands what's funny about it, however sad."

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Something Affleck also finds funny is the term "Batfleck." The Argo actor is pulling double duty this summer, promoting both the Fincher thriller and filming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice in Detroit Mich. Affleck was flooded with backlash when it was announced last August that he would be playing Batman in the Man of Steel sequel, but according to the actor, the negativity didn't bother him much. (Not even the training — which was "equally tough" as looking "puffy and hungover" in Gone Girl, he joked.)

"Everyone's entitled to their opinion. I wouldn't have taken the part if I didn't trust my instincts in terms of the filmmaking," he told EW.

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"It's great that people do care that much. They want to see the movie that much. And it is incumbent on you to honor the story," he continued. "There are the Greek myths and these are the American myths. The American myths are these superheroes. People care about 'em a lot. And it's incumbent on you to do a good job and make it as excellent as you possibly can. At the end of the day, the movie's all that matters."

Gone Girl will hit theaters on Oct 3, 2014. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice is set for release in March 2016.

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