Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt (born August 15, 1972) is an American actor and filmmaker. His accolades include two Academy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, two BAFTA Awards, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. He began his career as a child and starred in the PBS educational series The Voyage of the Mimi in 1984, before a second run in 1988. He later appeared in the independent coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused (1993) and various Kevin Smith films, including Chasing Amy (1997) and Dogma (1999). Affleck gained wider recognition when he and childhood friend Matt Damon won the Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for writing Good Will Hunting (1997), which they also starred in. He then established himself as a leading man in studio films, including the disaster drama Armageddon (1998), the romantic comedy Forces of Nature (1999), the war drama Pearl Harbor (2001), and the spy thriller The Sum of All Fears (2002).
