HBOBen Affleck isn't holding anything back!
On the premiere of HBO's Any Given Wednesday With Bill Simmons last night, the actor went on a passionate rant in defense of his friend/favorite football star Tom Brady. Affleck later acknowledged his comments might have been just a tidbit much, tweeting, "For those of you keeping score at home, I gave exactly 18 f*cks about my Pats. Upon reflection, 12 probably would have been sufficient...We Boston fans have always been known for our subtlety. One of my favorite interviews; hope you get to see the entire episode. #GoPats"
But Brady, Deflategate and NFL technicalities weren't all Affleck got heated up about during his interview with Simmons: He got to gabbing about the days of Bennifer!
Affleck's career and reputation circa 2004 is a distant memory to most of us now, but he vividly recalls that life rut and how he worked so hard to pull himself out of it.
"If you went by what people said...I wasn't cool and I wasn't talented, and I was like the lowest rung of cool and talented that you could possibly be in the public consciousness at that time," he said to Simmons. "I had broken up with Jennifer Lopez and I had like three or four movies in a row that had bombed."
Affleck recalled being "so uncool" that he "was literally a punchline in Arliss's straight to United Airlines video standup bit."
"So that guy had to look around and go, 'Who's below me that I can sh-t on?' and he picked me," said Affleck. "He did a whole bit about me that I saw on United Airlines and I [thought] 'This is it, it really doesn't get much worse than this.'"
"That was where I found myself when I thought, 'Hey, I want to take up directing,' which is for people that are taken seriously," Affleck continued. "That became my mantra--I'm just going to work harder than everybody else."
That worked out well for Affleck, too. He also acknowledged Jennifer Garner's support, referring to her as his spouse although they split last year. "My wife was really instrumental and helpful in me doing a lot of that work," said Affleck, "because I was just so focused [on it] and it was harder to balance family and all that."
Any Given Wednesday With Bill Simmons airs (spoiler alert) Wednesdays as 10 p.m. on HBO.