Ben Affleck Relates to Batman's 'Deeply Buried' Anger

Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner earlier this year

Ben Affleck believes that he and Batman share a certain personality trait — or is it a flaw? In a new interview with the Sunday Times, Affleck, who plays the masked superhero in the upcoming Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, reflects on the bottled-up anger that he and Batman have in common. “I think it’s a necessity, historically, in the tradition of these films,” Affleck said of Batman’s temper. “For me, anger is so deeply buried and contained that when it does kind of come out, it comes out in stronger bursts. I tend to be respectful, polite, get along, put up with, put up with, put up with…then, when it finally emerges, it’s not something I have a ton of control over.”

Sounds more like the Hulk than the Caped Crusader! Affleck was quick to clarify, however, that he doesn’t “go into a Wolverine berserker rage.” Not that it’s something he’s proud of: “By the way, that’s a character flaw, I think,” he noted of his outbursts. “I should sit down and say, ‘Listen, I just want to let you know what happened there wasn’t OK,’ instead of going, let it go, let it go, let it go … ‘Ah, that’s not a big deal’, until finally you just pop!”

Affleck as the Dark Knight in a photo tweeted by director Zack Snyder

In recent years, Affleck has received more accolades as a filmmaker (notably the Best Picture Oscar for Argo) than as an actor. He admitted to the Sunday Times that he hopes playing Batman will open doors for his directing career. However, he was emphatic that he doesn’t look down on action movies. In fact, he cited Raiders of the Lost Ark, Midnight Run, and Ocean’s 11 (which featured his brother Casey Affleck) among his favorite films, calling them “the best version of popcorn movies.” Besides, he said, being part of a tentpole like Batman v. Superman is a whole new experience in filmmaking. “To get the exposure to a movie of this scale is an education,” he said.

While Affleck has been getting a crash course in blockbusters, his wife Jennifer Garner has been enjoying the fringe benefits. The actress told Extra that she has been wowed by her husband’s “incredible” physical transformation into Batman, saying that his body is now “eight or seven percent body fat and all muscle.” Still, the mother of three said she wouldn’t want Affleck to stay in top superhero shape all the time.“No, it’s so much work,” she told Extra. “Our whole lives revolve around it. But it’s awesome.”

Affleck before and after his Batman regimen

Photo credit: Jeff Vespa/VF14/WireImage, Twitter