- Title: USA: Ben Affleck admits he was fired from his local cinema
- Date: 9th December 2010
- Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 08, 2010) (REUTERS) FILM POSTER FOR 'THE COMPANY MEN' BEN AFFLECK BEING INTERVIEWED AFFLECK ENTERS MOVIE THEATER (SOUNDBITE) (English) BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR, SAYING: "I was a teenager and I showed up to work at the movie theater all the time and finally they were like, 'we're hanging up your number, big guy'. I was like, 'what do you mean, you're hanging up, what does that mean? I didn't get it. Did Chris just fire me?' and they were like, 'yep, he just fired you'." DIRECTOR JOHN WELLS POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHS (SOUNDBITE) (English) JOHN WELLS, DIRECTOR, SAYING: "There are tens of millions of people in this country now who are going through this experience and I think often at times feel very much alone like it's only them. We discovered as we tested the film and would show it to audiences - we would ask people afterwards how many people have someone in their own family, or it's happened to them, or a very close friend and every single hand would go up, and people would say I'm just glad to know that I'm not the only person who's going through this. So it's about the resiliency of the spirit and how you can come out on the other side and be better than you were at the beginning even though it's very difficult." AFFLECK BEING INTERVIEWED (SOUNDBITE) (English) BEN AFFLECK, ACTOR, SAYING: "I think it's a tricky thing. Obviously I would much prefer to be standing here with this movie and people asking me questions like 'who's going to identify with this?' You know? 'how is anybody going to feel this is real?' Unfortunately maybe we have the problem, is the flip side. I think one of the ways that we process our lives and think about them is through telling stories. And sometimes that's on television and going to the movies, or just sitting around and talking with their friends. But you know, kind of talking things out and then re-experiencing them helps us regulate ourselves in our own experiences and so this is one way, I hope is that people who are thinking about this kind of thing can go and see the movie and ultimately find at the end that it's tremendously hopeful." EXTERIOR PARIS THEATER MARQUEE PARIS THEATER
- Embargoed: 24th December 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA56I06IJ98BPWH4IFRZTRGKR19
- Story Text: He's an Academy Award-winner and one of Hollywood's most bankable film stars, but not even Ben Affleck could hold down a job at the local cinema when he was just a kid.
The actor made the confession on Wednesday (December 8) during the New York premiere of his latest film, 'The Company Men'.
"I was a teenager and I showed up to work at the movie theater all the time and finally they were like, 'we're hanging up your number, big guy'. I was like, 'what do you mean, you're hanging up, what does that mean? I didn't get it. Did Chris just fire me?' and they were like, 'yep, he just fired you'," Affleck said.
Starring Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Costner and Chris Cooper, 'The Company Men' tells the story of how three men cope with the trauma of losing their jobs and comfortable lifestyles due to a sudden corporate downsizing.
Writer-director John Wells said although 'The Company Men' is about corporate executives losing their well-paying jobs, he felt many people would be able to relate to the film.
"There are tens of millions of people in this country now who are going through this experience and I think often at times feel very much alone like it's only them. We discovered as we tested the film and would show it to audiences - we would ask people afterwards how many people have someone in their own family, or it's happened to them, or a very close friend and every single hand would go up, and people would say I'm just glad to know that I'm not the only person who's going through this. So it's about the resiliency of the spirit and how you can come out on the other side and be better than you were at the beginning even though it's very difficult," Wells said.
Affleck said he thought the film could offer a glimmer of hope to those who had found themselves in similar situations.
"I think it's a tricky thing. Obviously I would much prefer to be standing here with this movie and people asking me questions like 'who's going to identify with this?' You know? 'how is anybody going to feel this is real?' Unfortunately maybe we have the problem, is the flip side, I think one of the ways that we process our lives and think about them is through telling stories. And sometimes that's on television and going to the movies, or just sitting around and talking with their friends. But you know, kind of talking things out and then re-experiencing them helps us regulate ourselves in our own experiences and so this is one way, I hope is that people who are thinking about this kind of thing can go and see the movie and ultimately find at the end that it's tremendously hopeful," Affleck said.
'The Company Men' opens in select theaters across North America on December 10th, with a wider release scheduled for January 2011. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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