Ben Affleck wowed fans by speaking in fluent Spanish during a recent interview for a radio network in Spain – leading his followers to rechristen him ‘Benito.’
The Oscar-winning actor, 50, was lauded by followers for his ‘excellent pronunciation and flow’ as he spoke with La Cadena SER about new movie Air – with many left baffled at the bilingual actor’s apparent new grasp of the language.
However, the Argo star’s Spanish skills were in fact acquired when he was just 13 years old and filming in Mexico for a year.
He previously said on the Kelly Clarkson show in 2020: ‘I speak it passively. I did this little kids TV series when I was young and when I was 13, the season that year was (shot) in Mexico, so I was in Mexico for a year and that’s how I picked it up.
The clip posted by the network saw Affleck discuss in Spanish why Michael Jordan does not appear in Air.
Benito! Ben Affleck wowed fans by speaking in fluent Spanish during a recent interview for a radio network in Spain – leading his followers to rechristen him ‘Benito’
He said: ‘The important thing to understand is that this is not Michael Jordan’s story, and Michael Jordan also does not appear in the movie.
‘He’s so big, so important, so magnificent – there’s not an actor in the world who could lead the audience to believe, Look, it’s Michael Jordan.
‘Immediately, they are going to think, ‘All of this is s***. It’s a s*** movie. I don’t believe it.’ And it destroys (the movie) entirely.
Fans quickly jumped on social media to voice their amazement at his language skills and joke the star’s dialogue was ‘better than his acting.’
One fan wrote: ‘The switch from Ben to Benito’ while another typed: Oh wow, his Spanish is better than his acting.’
Another penned: ‘So he speaks better Spanish than Jennifer Lopez?’ while another typed: ‘Is Ben Mexican’ and ‘why does he sound Cuban?’
One fan wrote: ‘I love his Spanish, his flow is excellent, his pronunciation.’
Another wrote: ‘(It’s) an example of how to get respect from Spanish-speaking communities and promote your movie. Something the rest of artists should do.
Wow: The Oscar-winning actor , 50, was lauded by followers for his ‘excellent pronunciation and flow’ as he spoke with La Cadena SER about new movie Air – with many left baffled at the bilingual actor’s apparent new grasp of the language
Finesse: The clip posted by the network saw Affleck discuss in Spanish why Michael Jordan does not appear in Air
Ben also has plenty of opportunities to finesse his Spanish at home, alongside wife J-Lo who speaks fluent Spanish.
The actor teamed up with his long-time friend Matt Damon to make the biographical sports drama Air, and Ben has now revealed that he relished working with Matt, 52.
Ben — who directed the movie and also plays the part of Phil Knight, the co-founder of Nike — recently told IndieWire: ‘I love and trust Matt so much, and it was so lovely to be working together.
‘It was kind of like a feeling of, I want the other actors to feel [this too]. Like, “Come on, it’s all good, I love actors, I love you, you’re going to be OK, everyone, take as much time as you want, do what you need to do and be respected, and to kind of project that energy.”‘
Ben and Matt shot to international prominence in 1997, when they co-wrote the award-winning Good Will Hunting.
On this occasion, Matt enjoyed the experience of being directed by his showbiz pal.
He said: ‘Honestly, it was kind of a natural progression. We’ve written a bunch of movies and produced and acted together for so many years and decades, so it didn’t feel any different, working this way.’
Giving lessons? Ben also has plenty of opportunities to finesse his Spanish at home, alongside wife J-Lo who speaks fluent Spanish (pictured last month)
Earlier this month, Ben described working with Matt as the best experience of his career.
The actor-turned-director — who married J-Lo in 2022 — also revealed that he’s already missing working with him.
He shared: ‘It was just so much fun. I don’t know. It kind of felt like just us and getting to do the thing that we wanted to do. I did. I loved it. I loved it.
‘I miss it every day since. It was the best, like, work experience of my life, without question.’
