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Ben Affleck Responds to Ricky Gervais’ ‘Unfaithful’ Golden Globes Joke, Plus More Revelations From His New Interview

What a good sport! Ben Affleck has finally responded to Ricky Gervais‘ wisecrack at the 2016 Golden Globes, after the show host jokingly slammed the Batman actor as “unfaithful” while introducing the actor’s best friend, Matt Damon.

According to the New York Times, Affleck found it funny. “It’s the way Ricky Gervais perceives me, I suppose,” a laughing Affleck, 43, told the paper in a loaded new interview published Monday, March 14. “Whatever. I’ve had jokes made at my expense before. It’s part of the deal.”

Ben Affleck and Ricky Gervasis
Ben Affleck and Ricky Gervasis

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During the live broadcast on January 10, Gervais, 54, memorably called out Affleck’s alleged infidelity while introducing the star’s childhood BFF, Damon, to the stage. “He’s also the only person who Ben Affleck hasn’t been unfaithful to. Please welcome Matt Damon,” Gervais said at the time. (Damon replied with a giggly “Thank you. Ha.”)

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Affleck’s ex Jennifer Garner also found the moment amusing. “I laughed,” she told Vanity Fair in her no-holds-barred cover story. “People have pain — they do regrettable things, they feel shame, and shame equals pain,” the Miracles From Heaven actress, 43, said. “No one needs to hate him for me. I don’t hate him. Certainly we don’t have to beat the guy up.”

In addition to the awards show joke, the actor also opened up in his NYT interview about his pursuit of flawed characters over “boring,” likable protagonists. “Instead, I think it’s interesting how we manage the best version of ourselves, despite our flaws and our weaknesses and our sometime tendencies to do the wrong thing,” he said. The Oscar winner also talked about his perpetual pursuit of more in his work.

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“That never goes away,” he said of his burning quest to thrive and prove himself. “All these habits that we develop, that help us at some point, they have flip sides. In this case, it’s hard to turn that feeling off.” He then added to himself: “It’s OK to just chill for a second.”

Later, he referred to this relentless desire to work as “high-class problems.” He noted: “I get antsy. I’m my own worst enemy in that way … You’ve got to realize, this line of work, it’s rooted in a feeling of needing to audition all the time.”

Up next for Affleck is his portrayal of the Caped Crusader in Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. “I wanted a Batman who had been Batman for 20 years. A war-weary Batman,” seasoned director Snyder told the Times. “When you start thinking about the actors in that range, we came to Ben pretty quickly. He’s a big guy. I’ve always been a fan of a large Batman.”

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Affleck also shared his interpretation of the character. “He’s living in this gray zone,” the dad of three explained. “He’s more broken, not slick. He’s filling the hole in his soul with these increasingly morally questionable nighttime excursions — fighting crime as well as by being this playboy … You wonder, is this healthy?”

His 4-year-old son, Samuel, meanwhile, sees his dad as Batman, and the delivery guy as the villain. “He knows that I am Batman,” Affleck said of his youngest child with Garner. 

“It’s a mixed blessing. He also thinks that for some reason — I don’t know if it’s the color combination or whatever — that the FedEx guy is the Joker. Whenever there’s a FedEx delivery, he’s like, ‘Dad, the Joker’s outside.’ The burden’s on me to go out there and give the guy an extra 20 bucks to pantomime a whole Adam West kung fu battle.” 

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