Key Takeaways
- Ben Affleck said Instagram banned him twice for impersonating himself after he created an account with six followers to keep up with his kids.
- Affleck argued that actors should "maintain an illusion," saying social media offers little value even as casting directors increasingly treat follower counts as a meaningful metric.
- He also embraced his reputation as the internet's "beleaguered man," joking that viral photos of him looking exhausted capture the unguarded moments everyone has.
Ben Affleck has revealed that he's had a bit of a tough time proving his identity when it comes to social media.
In a new interview with Variety, the actor and filmmaker revealed that he'd be a "terrible influencer" and was "banned" from Instagram 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."
While he conceded that casting directors these days see follower counts as a "meaningful metric," he added that he doesn't see much of a benefit in actors having an active social media presence.
"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."
He said that while he realizes that makes him sound like "an old, out-of-touch person," he still believes that actors "have to maintain an illusion."
Elsewhere in the interview, he also addressed the viral photos of him looking exhausted or fed-up in public, specifically the one everyone knows where he's smoking a cigarette and looks as though he's at the end of his tether. "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."
