Ben Affleck picked up a piece of free career advice on the set of “Armageddon,” and the movie he was told to skip went on to win seven Oscars.
Affleck, 54, recounted the exchange with Bruce Willis on a recent episode of the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast with host Josh Horowitz. Willis handed him the tip while the two were shooting director Michael Bay’s 1998 sci-fi blockbuster, just months before Affleck was due to start work on the romantic comedy period film “Shakespeare in Love.”
“He was like, ‘Man, don’t go do that Shakespeare movie, man. You don’t wanna do that movie,'” Affleck said.
He made the movie anyway, taking the supporting role of the actor Ned Alleyn. “Shakespeare in Love” became a critical and box office hit, grossing $289 million on a $25 million budget and winning seven Academy Awards, including best picture. Affleck drew critical acclaim for it even though he wasn’t the lead.
‘He Was Wrong About That One’
Willis “was wrong about that one,” Affleck said with a laugh. “But he hadn’t read the script, in all fairness.”
Affleck had already scored a major success with “Good Will Hunting” by the time he reported to the “Armageddon” set, where he played one of the supporting leads opposite Willis. The commercial muscle of the Bay film opened new doors for him. He was preparing for the Shakespeare picture when his co-star told him to pass on it.
‘Your Voice Is Too High’
The podcast conversation started with Batman, not Willis. Horowitz asked how Affleck landed on that particular inflection for the Caped Crusader, and Affleck joked about running the line readings in a higher register, hamming up the Dark Knight until Horowitz laughed. There was no other way to deliver the dialogue, Affleck said, because the part requires a deeper sound.
That took him back to the “Armageddon” set, and to a note Willis gave him there.
“Bruce Willis once turned to me and was like, ‘Your voice is too high,'” he told Horowitz. Affleck said he answered that the pitch was simply his voice and asked whether he could do anything about it. Willis, by his account, told him he was doing him a favor.
Affleck still credits him for it. Of all the guidance he collected early in his career, one of the longest-lasting pieces was to work on his voice. For Batman, he said, he drew on the source material, and the key to pulling off the voice is believing that you really are the character.
The Romance That Made Headlines
The film Willis warned him off changed more than Affleck’s résumé. The press turned to his personal life after “Shakespeare in Love,” beginning with his highly publicized relationship with co-star Gwyneth Paltrow. That set the platform for the same treatment of his later relationships with Jennifer Lopez and Jennifer Garner.
The ensemble around him was formidable: Paltrow, Joseph Fiennes, Judi Dench, Geoffrey Rush, Colin Firth, Imelda Staunton, Tom Wilkinson, Simon Callow and Jim Carter.
Willis, who starred in “Armageddon,” has since retired from acting. Affleck, an Oscar winner himself, looked back on the advice without a trace of grievance.
He said he loves Willis, and that the tip was meant as genuine help. “He was the sweetest guy in the world,” Affleck said.