Ben Affleck says he’s had some unusual trouble proving that he’s actually himself on social media.
In a new interview with Variety, the actor and filmmaker said he’d make a “terrible influencer” and revealed that Instagram has banned him twice. “I got banned from Instagram twice for impersonating myself,” he shared. “I had six followers. It was my kids and some of their friends. It was just an excuse for me to look at [my kids’] social media accounts.”
Affleck acknowledged that casting directors now view follower counts as a “meaningful metric,” but said he doesn’t see much value in actors maintaining an active presence on social media.
“I experienced the whole world and had a whole life in private,” he added. “I have a real sense of how valuable that is. I think Daniel Day-Lewis and Meryl Streep and Viola Davis and Denzel Washington are brilliant actors. It doesn’t help me appreciate their movies to see what they had for lunch.”
Affleck admitted that his perspective might make him sound like “an old, out-of-touch person,” but he still believes actors “have to maintain an illusion.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Affleck also spoke about the viral photos of him appearing exhausted or frustrated in public, particularly the well-known image of him smoking a cigarette and looking completely worn out. “I became a meme for ‘the beleaguered man,’ as my daughter calls it,” he shared.
“Does anyone have any idea what I had to deal with by 11 A.M. that morning?” he continued. “All of us have moments — you’ve got to be willing to let your guard down about it.”
