The 20 most memorable Ben Affleck roles

Affleck first made a splash in Richard Linklater’s breakout film about high schoolers kicking off the summer down in Texas. The future star has a small role as Fred O’Bannion, an upcoming senior who got held back a year but has not lost his thirst for hazing. Affleck is charged with playing a total jerk you want to see get his comeuppance, and he does.

Kevin Smith’s Clerks had no stars or future stars in it. Mallrats began a working relationship between the cult director and Affleck. He pops up in a few of his films, including another one later on this list, but it began with him playing another smarmy jerk here.

This is the film. The one that broke Affleck and Matt Damon through. Granted, Damon is the star. He’s Will Hunting. However, the duo co-wrote the movie together and won an Oscar for that. It doesn’t have anything to do with Affleck’s role in the movie, but it was part of what made this film such a memorable one in his filmography.

After winning an Oscar for Good Will Hunting, Affleck had a role in the winner of Best Picture. Granted, history has not been kind to this win. Nevertheless, it was a big movie and won the biggest movie award. Affleck is maybe not the first name you think of regarding this film, but you remember that he was in it.

Shakespeare in Love was Affleck’s awards darling in 1998. Armageddon was his massive blockbuster. Sure, it’s pretty dumb. It’s about drillers being trained to go to space to drill an asteroid to keep it from destroying the Earth. And yet, Michael Bay’s movie worked for people, not just Aerosmith fans. It was Affleck’s first big blockbuster effort, and it worked.

This is Smith’s biggest movie, and he owes that to the names he got for it. This time, he didn’t just have his old buddy Affleck. Ben brought Damon along for the fun as well. Those two were red hot, which turned a raunchy comedy about two fallen angels into a crossover hit. The Good Will Hunting guys reunited!

After being minted as a star, Hollywood tried to get Affleck to click as an action star and rom-com star. That led to some flops and some films that left us wanting. He did churn out a few memorable if unremarkable movies. Reindeer Games is one of the notable names from this time. In recent years, it feels like it’s been revisited as a goofy but fun early-2000s action flick.

With Armageddon, Bay made a ridiculous action movie that people still enjoyed and made a ton of money. He went to that well again — with Affleck in tow once more — with Pearl Harbor. Now, the movie did make a ton of cash, but it was universally panned. Matt Stone and Trey Parker dedicated an entire song to Pearl Harbor sucking in their movie Team America. Also, Affleck plays a guy named “Rafe McCawley.”

Alec Baldwin had played Jack Ryan. So had Harrison Ford. Affleck became their heir apparent in The Sum of All Fears. That was a big opportunity for Affleck, but it didn’t quite pan out. This movie wasn’t that big of a hit, and he never played Ryan again.

Before everybody in Hollywood tried their hand at a superhero movie, Affleck did it. He signed on to play Marvel’s Daredevil, bringing a largely unknown hero to the screen. That works these days, but it didn’t really work back then. We all remember Daredevil, but it’s not a movie anybody revisits.

There are many infamous Hollywood films. Gigli might be the most infamous of them all. When you mention Affleck’s filmography, it’s one of the first movies to get mentioned. It’s considered an all-time terrible movie. It is almost unfathomably bad and misguided. It starred Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, who had been the peak of tabloid fodder. People wanted to deride “Bennifer,” and this was their chance. Ultimately, they got the last laugh — getting married in 2022.

After Gigli things pretty much fell apart for Affleck. This is a smaller film, but it was a chance for Affleck to start rebuilding his career. Funnily enough, Affleck plays George Reeves in Hollywoodland. Reeves had played Superman and then died under mysterious circumstances. The lure of telling stories around superheroes has kept coming back for Affleck.

In 2007, Affleck wrote and directed Gone Baby Gone. People thought it was quite good, opening the door for a new area of his career for the former action star. You don’t see Affleck in that film, though. He wrote and directed The Town, but he also starred in it. In the process, he created one of the most beloved crime thrillers of the decade.

Argo is based on the true story of the CIA sneaking some American citizens out of Iran during the hostage crisis. He plays Tony Mendez, but he also directed. While Affleck notably wasn’t nominated for Best Director for Argo, his movie won Best Picture. The man may be known for acting, but he’s clearly shown that he has skills in other areas.

Gone Girl is a grimy, nasty story, so David Fincher was drawn to it. The man loves icy nihilism. And Mank. Based on a popular, pulpy novel, Gone Girl uses Affleck’s movie stardom in interesting ways, earning him some of the best acting plaudits he had gotten in years.

How many of us could say no if they offered us a chance to be Batman? They gave Affleck the shot, and he took it. Affleck plays a slightly older, more grizzled Batman, and honestly, he’s not bad at it. Even though he never got his own solo film, everybody remembers that he was Batman and that Batman and Superman’s moms have the same first name.

What a weird year for Affleck. In addition to making his debut as the Dark Knight in a maligned film, he made the odd action thriller The Accountant. How do you describe this movie? You kind of have to see it to comprehend it, but is it worth seeing? It’s memorable. If you watch The Accountant, you’ll remember Affleck’s turn as the titular character.

We had to throw Justice League on this list. It’s another turn as Batman, but it was supposed to be such a huge film. And, of course, it was. It just wanted The Avengers, much less Avengers: Endgame. It kind of exploded the idea that DC could have its own answer to the MCU. Also, it led to the Snyder Cut, which the internet went insane for a few years until it finally appeared in all its bizarre glory.

“Hey, let’s throw a bunch of dudes together for a throwback action movie.” This was presumably what Netflix was thinking when it greenlit Triple Frontier. It delivers what it promises, much to the happiness of fans of this sort of film. We’re talking about guys like Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garret Hedlund, and Pedro Pascal. It’s a heist movie. It’s a war movie. It’s not high art. It’s exactly what you want.

After a bunch of time in action movie land, Affleck turned back to dramatic acting for The Way Back. It’s a film about an alcoholic basketball coach trying to right the ship of his team and his own personal life. While promoting it, Affleck talked openly and often about his own issues with alcohol abuse. It became part of the film's narrative, but in a way that led to much positive coverage. In terms of reviews for his acting work, The Way Back may be at the top of the list for Affleck. He’s not the young dude winning an Oscar for Good Will Hunting anymore, but the skills haven’t gone anywhere.