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For more than 20 years now, Ben Affleck has been one of the biggest stars in Hollywood. People might forget that he had a career that spans back to when he was a child, but it was during the mid 1990s that he had his true breakout as an actor. Affleck has been involved with massive blockbusters and some more arthouse style films, while also garnering critical acclaim for his work behind the camera. Now in his late 40s, Affleck has accomplished a lot in Hollywood, and wants to keep doing more. 

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Many assume that Affleck was born in Massachusetts thanks to the subject matter of a lot of his films, but he was actually born in Berkeley, California on August 15, 1972 before moving to Massachusetts at a very young age. Affleck’s parents were very intelligent people, including his father who had gotten into acting despite his struggles with alcohol. Affleck began acting as a child himself, though he wasn’t pushed into the scene.

Affleck’s debut role came in an independent film called “The Dark End of the Street” in 1981, which would be his only film of the decade. He did have a few television roles, though, including “The Voyage of Mimi” on PBS and the TV movie “Hands of a Stranger”. After a couple of minor film roles to kick off the 1990s, Affleck had a bit of a breakthrough on the big screen that would keep him away from television.

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The 1993 film “Dazed and Confused” is the first film in which a lot of people recall seeing Affleck for the first time, and he followed this up with Kevin Smith collaborations “Mallrats” and “Chasing Amy”. Then, along with his friend and fellow actor Matt Damon, they wrote “Good Will Hunting”. The two also starred in the 1997 film that earned them an Oscar for the script, and they’d star together in “Dogma” two years later. Other late 1990s hits for Affleck included “Dogma” and “Armageddon”, which had one of the biggest budgets of all-time upon its release.

Throughout his career, Affleck has been involved in a lot of high profile relationships. After dating actress Gwyneth Paltrow, Affleck began a relationship with singer and actress Jennifer Lopez. The two were first matched when they shot the critically panned film “Gigli”, and quickly became one of the biggest power couples in Hollywood.

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Within a year of meeting each other, Affleck and Lopez became engaged. However, they wouldn’t make it to the altar, as they split up at the beginning of 2004, totalling a year and a half together. During that time when they were a couple, though, they bought each other some pretty expensive items. The most eye catching one was a toilet seat that cost six figures.

The sources said that Affleck purchased a toilet seat that was covered in expensive jewels such as diamonds and rubies. Affleck even had a hand in designing the toilet seat, which set him back a reported $105,000. “Jennifer is my princess, and she deserves only the best - even when it comes to toilets,” one of Affleck’s friends said. While they would end up going their separate ways, the two have said that they’re still on good terms.

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Since “Gigli” and his brief relationship with Lopez, Affleck has had a lot of success. In the late 2000s, he starred in films such as “Elektra” where he met eventual wife Jennifer Garner (though they have since split) and “Jersey Girl”. Affleck got behind the camera, as well, directing “Gone Baby Gone”. He’d direct once again in the early 2010s with “Argo”, earning an Oscar in the process.

In more recent years, we’ve seen Affleck play a very iconic role. In 2016, he took over as the Dark Knight himself in “Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice”, a role he would reprise in multiple movies. Other recent films for Affleck include “Triple Frontier” and “The Last Thing He Wanted” with several other major projects coming out in the future.

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Things have gotten better for Affleck, who struggled with alcoholism like his father following his divorce from Garner. “I took the last half of the year off. And I just got to be a Dad,” Affleck said of how it helped. “That’s where the parenting happens - it’s in the cracks. It’s in the moments where you’re just taking them back from soccer. And they see something profound. Or they talk about how they’re really feeling about something.”

“I’m doing my very, very best,” Affleck continued. “And I hope that that is - you know - it has to be good enough. I have to - I don’t really have a choice. I have to be the man I wanna be at this point. I don’t have any more room for failure of that kind.”