Hollywood star Ben Affleck has described the moment he was overlooked for a Best Director Oscar nomination as a 'massive embarrassment', despite the film in question, Argo, going on to win the top prize.
The Sting of the Snub
In a recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the 53-year-old actor and filmmaker reflected on the painful 2013 awards season. His historical thriller, Argo, which dramatised the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, secured seven Oscar nominations and three wins, including the coveted Best Picture award, which Affleck himself collected as a producer.
However, Affleck's work behind the camera was conspicuously absent from the Best Director category. He recounted the morning the nominations were announced, having been repeatedly told he was a shoo-in. 'It was the year, the horrible thing of everyone telling you, "You’re gonna get nominated, you’re gonna get nominated for director,"' he said. 'And so, of course, I wake up that morning, and sure enough... all of a sudden, it’s a massive embarrassment.'
An Uncomfortable Spotlight
Host Jimmy Kimmel amplified the awkwardness of the situation, calling it 'maybe the worst award-show situation ever.' He pointed out the bizarre anomaly: 'Argo, not only was it nominated for the Oscar for best picture, you won best picture. You starred in it and directed it, and you were not nominated in either category … it’s as if the movie directed itself.'
The aftermath was intensely uncomfortable for Affleck. He labelled the snub a 'negative event and a horrible thing', made worse by having to face the industry immediately afterwards at the Critics’ Choice Awards. '500 people [were] dying to talk to me,' he recalled, 'and every single one of them was like, "Hi! So the snub… What do you say to that? It’s a bummer!"'
A Dazzling Career Beyond the Snub
Despite this notable omission, Affleck's Oscars track record remains impressive. He first won at the age of 25 in 1998, becoming the youngest winner of the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Good Will Hunting, which he co-wrote with Matt Damon. His second Oscar came 15 years later for producing Argo.
Today, Affleck remains a major force in Hollywood. He is currently starring alongside his longtime friend and collaborator Matt Damon in Netflix's new crime thriller, The Rip. In the film, Affleck plays Detective Sergeant J.D. Byrne, with Damon as his partner, Lieutenant Dane Dumars. The plot centres on a Miami narcotics team whose discovery of 20 million dollars in cash plunges them into extreme danger.
While the memory of the director snub clearly still smarts, Affleck's career—spanning acting, writing, directing, and producing—demonstrates a resilience and talent that far transcends a single awards season disappointment.
