From one Batman to another, “Don’t do it“. That was George Clooney’s advise to Ben Affleck.
Affleck’s career as the DC superhero spanned 3 movies – “Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice”, “Suicide Squad”, and “Justice League”. Throughout the entire process, it seemed like the actor was less happy than the last.
During a recent interview on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, Clooney was asked if he imparted any words of wisdom to Affleck when they collaborated together in the Clooney-produced “Argo”, which Affleck starred in and directed. The drama went on to claim the Best Picture during 2012’s Oscars.
“I actually did talk to him about it. Yeah, I said ‘Don’t do it.’ It was only from my experience… He did great, though,” Clooney recalled. The 58-year-old actor previously played the Caped Crusader in 1997’s “Batman & Robin”. It was considered a low point for the actor when the movie flopped.
That experience taught Clooney an important lesson about how the movie industry works. “(Arnold) Schwarzenegger was paid, I think he was paid US$25 million for that, which was like 20 times more than I was paid for it, and, you know, we never even worked together! We worked together for one day. But I took all the heat,” he explained.
“Now, fair deal—I was playing Batman and I wasn’t good in it, and it wasn’t a good film, but what I learned from that failure was that I had to rethink how I was working because now I wasn’t just an actor getting a role, I was being held responsible for the film itself,” the A-lister added.
Earlier this year, it was confirmed that Affleck was leaving DCEU as Batman. “The Batman” solo movie, which is set for release in June 2021, has yet to find a new Bruce Wayne.
Source: THR.
