MOVIES
Ben Affleck shows off his Spanish-speaking skills in ‘Air’ interview
The actor/director talked about his movie ‘Air’ to the Spanish-language press.
In case you forgot, Ben Affleck is fluent in Spanish, and recently proved it when speaking to the Spanish news outlet Cadena SER.
The actor/director spoke at length about his latest directorial effort ‘Air’ in his second language, much to the delight of his Spanish-speaking fans.
Fans are surprised and in love with Affleck’s Spanish
In a TikTok posted to Cadena SER’s channel, Affleck describes the process behind creating the story, and his casting choices for ‘Air’.
“The switch from Ben to Benito,” wrote one fan.
“We lost a Benito but gained a Ben…I’m ok with that,” said another, referring to Bad Bunny (real name Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio), and the discontent his Latino fan base has had towards him following rumors that he’s dating Kendall Jenner.
“(It’s) an example of how to get respect from Spanish-speaking communities and promote your movie,” one person wrote. “Something the rest of artists should do.”
“His accent is turning a little Puerto Rican,” someone noted, with Affleck noticeably dropping the “s” sound in a few of his words, perhaps as an influence of his wife, Jennifer Lopez, who is of Puerto Rican descent.
On Twitter, a fan shared the video with the caption, “Affleck angling to be called Benito with the recent vacancy.”
Affleck explains why Michael Jordan did not appear in ‘Air’
In the Cadena SER interview, Affleck explains that while basketball legend Michael Jordan does play a big role in the plot of the movie, the movie itself is not about him, adding that no actor could convincingly play him.
“He’s so big, so important, so magnificent, there’s no actor in the movie who would ever believe ‘hey that’s Michael Jordan.’ The audience would think, oh, this is s—, this is a s— movie.”
He explained how he sought to earn Jordan’s respect before working on the movie.
“I had the opportunity to talk with [Michael Jordan], and I asked him, ‘what do you think are the most important facts about this story?’ and he told me a few things, but he specified the actors he wanted to play different–” here Affleck had a difficult time remembering the Spanish word for “character” before the interviewer helped him out.
“He wanted Chis Tucker to play Howard White, and Marlon Wayans as George Raveling,” Affleck referred to George Raveling with the Spanish equivalent of his name, “Jorge”.
“And the third, the most important request he made was, he said ‘you have to get Viola Davis to play my mom’ which is like asking someone to play basketball and asking for Michael Jordan.”