The Hollywood star reportedly said that “a man kissing another man is the greatest acting challenge an actor can ever face.”
Ben Affleck allegedly once said that kissing another man was “the greatest challenge an actor can ever face”.
That’s according to the director of 1997’s Chasing Amy, who says that the Hollywood heartthrob later declared himself a “serious actor” after shooting a same-sex kiss for the US romantic drama.
Released in April 1997, the critically-acclaimed flick saw Affleck play a comic book artists who clashes with his best friend (played by Jason Lee) after falling in love with a bisexual woman (Joey Lauren Adams).
According to Gay Gay Star News , director Kevin Smith told audiences at a 20th anniversary screening of the film at Los Angeles LGBTI film festival Outfest on Saturday (July 15) that Affleck was initially been apprehensive about a scene which saw him briefly lock lips with Lee, reports.
According to Smith, a then 23-year-old Affleck – who less than one year later would play a US miner sent into space by NASA to stop a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with Earth in 1998’s Armageddon – said: “A man kissing another man is the greatest acting challenge an actor can ever face.”
Smith added that after the scene had been shot, Affleck told him: “Now, I’m a serious actor.”
Affleck – who previously expressed his support for marriage equality on Twitter back in 2014 – spoke of his unease at having to kiss Lee on the lips shortly after Chasing Amy’s original release in 1997.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight at the time, the star insisted: “I’m not homophobic”, before adding: “I guess I am, more than I thought, in that, you know, it was just difficult for me, and I didn’t think it would be.”
