Ben Affleck
Although he is better known as an actor and celebrity who dated (and practiced Spanish with) Gwyneth Paltrow and was on the verge of marrying Jennifer Lopez, 35-year-old Ben Affleck’s lone Oscar is the Best Original Screenplay award he and his good friend Matt Damon won for the film “Good Will Hunting.”Affleck also has resorted to the written word for his directorial debut, a crime thriller that is an adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel “Gone, Baby, Gone.”Q. Do you read in Spanish?
A. My reading is poor. I had my last Spanish class when I started at the institute and I quit because I was terrible.
Q. Why did you start?
A. My mother was an instructor in an educational program I was in and that lasted for 9 months. We traveled all over Mexico, especially the Yucatan (peninsula) and we learned Spanish. But I’ve forgotten everything.
Q. You weren’t left with a favorite author?
A. Gabriel García Márquez, but I read translations. In Spanish it would be a constant struggle so it’s better that I read him in English and that way I can appreciate (his writing).
Q. Do you think reading is important?
A. I love reading and if there’s one thing I don’t like about my career as an actor it’s that I have to read so many scripts, because that’s not really reading.
Q. What’s your favorite time to read?
A. Now with the baby (Violet, his daughter with Jennifer Garner) any time is bad because I read at glacial speed, four pages and I fall asleep.
