Ben Affleck recently told Jimmy Kimmel that the 2013 Oscar snubs was a “massive embarrassment.”
The actor-director recalled how he was overlooked for both Best Director and Best Actor honours despite his film “Argo” earning seven nominations and winning three Oscars: Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Film Editing.
Interestingly, Affleck, 53, won the Best Director honours at the Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice Awards and BAFTAs.
Affleck, currently promoting his upcoming Netflix film “The Rip”, recalled how being passed over for Best Director and Best Actor honours created an awkward atmosphere where everyone felt the need to console him. He ultimately turned the disappointment into a win, taking home the Critics’ Choice Award for Best Director that same night.
"It's the horrible thing of everyone's telling you all the time you're going to get nominated, you're going to get nominated for director," Affleck said. "But all of a sudden it's a massive embarrassment," he added, mimicking the reactions he received: "You didn't get nominated."
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Kimmel noted that Affleck's situation was unprecedented. "Not only was it nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, you won Best Picture," he said. "You starred in it and directed it and you were not nominated in either category… It's as if the movie directed itself," he said.
"That's sort of what it felt like," Affleck admitted. He recalled winning the Critics' Choice Awards for Best Director and Best Picture the same day, which turned the negative into a positive.
"I remember getting there and there was like a red carpet line. It seemed like there were 500 people dying to talk to me," he said. "Every single one wanted to ask about the snub. What do you say to that?"
When asked if he was angry, Affleck said, "Honestly, it's just more embarrassing. Because, you know, wasn't the one going out there being like, 'I'm going to get it. I'm going to get nominated.' And so, it was more like having to be put through the ritual of then answering for why you didn't get nominated.”
"I don't want to jinx anything, but I think you might win Best Picture this year," he joked to Kimmel.
Affleck, who previously won an Oscar in 1998 with Matt Damon for the “Good Will Hunting” screenplay, will return as director, actor, and co-writer for his upcoming crime thriller “Animals”, which stars Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington, Steven Yeun, Luis Gerardo Mendez, Adriana Paz, and Ray Fisher.
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