Interview with Ben Affleck: "I'm a bookworm"

Mr. Affleck, after The Last Duel, The Tender Bar is the second film in which you have contented yourself with a supporting role.

Do you like not being the center of attention?

Apart from the lower pay, I've actually always preferred supporting roles.

You have a freedom that you will never have as a leading actor.

Why not?

Because there is a conventional opinion in mainstream cinema – not entirely unjustified – that a protagonist has to be likeable enough to arouse empathy in the audience and take them on a journey.

Certain character traits or behaviors can cause viewers to distance themselves, and by then a film has usually alienated them.

Accordingly, a certain virtue is necessary, which makes sense from a narrative point of view, but can be restrictive in terms of acting.

In a supporting role, you have the opportunity to play complicated, contradictory or less than perfect characters.

But in reality almost all people are complicated and contradictory.

Sure, of course.

That's why we usually find these characters so interesting.

However, according to traditional opinion, we prefer to see someone at the center of a story in the cinema who may not quite correspond to our everyday experience.

More multifaceted supporting roles are more of a decorative accessory.

Just like Jeremy Renner did in my film The Town.

He was spectacular as a murderous bank robber, the audience loved him.

But the character would hardly have worked as a protagonist, because then there would always have been the question of whether one could root for someone like him at all.

In "The Tender Bar" you now play a popular figure, the uncle and mentor of the young protagonist JR. Who were the men in your life who left the most lasting impression on you as a boy?

In any case, my father and my grandfather were and still are real role models for me, who have had a great influence on me.

But I also have a lot to thank my acting teacher for.

More than just teaching the art of acting?

Definitely. He not only taught acting, but also directing and screenwriting, and realizing how closely these three disciplines are intertwined was of great importance to me. Directing in particular is sometimes mystified, it can inspire a lot of respect. The fact that I have always dared to try out more than just standing in front of the camera is really due to this man. What was almost more important, however, was what he taught me, Matt Damon and other students beyond the subject matter. Integrity in oneself and respect for others, how to take one's own actions seriously and what it means to be a professional, hard work, punctuality - I learned all this from him. Sounds like obvious, fundamental things, but when they're taught to you by someonethat you admire and that you want to please, then it is particularly ingrained. I internalized these things as principles in my work - and they serve me well to this day.