A TV host has slammed Affleck for a March 2023 interview he gave to promote his Nike biopic 'Air,' calling him one of the "worst" interviewees "ever."
A TV host who previously interviewed Ben Affleck slammed the star as one of her “worst [interview] subjects ever.”
Sarah Ferguson, who serves as one of the hosts on Australia’s morning program 7:30, recently told the Sydney Morning Herald that the Good Will Hunting Oscar-winner was “rude” and “not interested” when she interviewed him about his Nike sneaker biopic Air on March 29, 2023.
“He was just rude, not interested, going through the motions,” Ferguson told the outlet, noting that the actor is “high up on the list” of her least-favorite interview subjects.
Affleck gave the interview opposite his Air co-star Chris Tucker, who played a Nike executive pivotal to sealing Michael Jordan’s seminal partnership with the company. Tucker’s animated style certainly contrasts with Affleck’s more relaxed delivery, but both actors appear as they typically do in interviews.
During the interview, Affleck seems visibly uncomfortable, repeatedly shifting in his seat and looking off-camera as he constructs his answers. At one point, after Ferguson asks Affleck what he meant by calling one actor “the fulcrum” of Air, he somewhat scoffs and shakes his head as if the statement speaks for itself.
No one has called Affleck out as directly as Ferguson has, but the actor has earned a reputation for his low-energy interviews. In 2016, he went viral for a very similar interview with Kermode and Mayo’s Film Review. Appearing opposite Gal Gadot to promote Batman v Superman, Affleck seemed short-tempered and unfocused in comparison to his co-star’s giddy, energetic responses. It prompted host Simon Mayo to at one point ask Gadot, “What should he have said?” in response to a rambling answer from Affleck.
But while his interviews may not be appreciated by some, Affleck has his reasons for being press shy. On March 16, 2023, about two weeks before his 7:30 appearance, Affleck told The Hollywood Reporter that he sees interviews as “land mines,” having “become very guarded” during press engagements “because of experiences that I’ve had” in the past.
“I view these things as land mines, where if you say one wrong thing, your career might be over,” Affleck said. “I had a really painful experience where I did an interview where I was really vulnerable, and the entire pickup was something that was not only not right, it was actually the opposite of what I meant.”
Representatives for Affleck did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
