I’m putting the source right there in the title because it’s possible this is creative fiction. It’s funny as hell to consider, which is why I’m repeating it. According to Mike Walker’s column in the National Enquirer, Ben Affleck refused to use the trainer that the studio hired him to buff up for his Batfleck part. Ben used a dude that Matt Damon recommended, and he allegedly failed to reach Batman levels of low body fat. Ben was deemed too “flabby” for a shirtless scene, so a body double ended up being called in:
Ben Affleck… [refused] to let producers hire their own fitness trainer to whip him into rock-hard superhero shape for his role as the masked night-flying avenger in “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” – Ben [insisted] instead on hiring a [guy] recommended by… Matt Dmaon.
“Turns out that was a truly bad decision for Ben,” reports an on-set source, “because when it finally came time to start filming after many delays, the star showed up looking so flabby for a shirtless boxing scene that producers immediately hired a ripped body double – and ended up using him so frequently as the Batman stand-in that snarky crew members sneakily started calling Ben ‘Fatman’ behind his back!”
[From The National Enquirer, print edition, Mike Walker’s column, October 20, 2014]
I was buying this up until the “Fatman” quip. Affleck is in no way “fat.” This reminds me of the 2009 Simpsons episode Homer The Whopper when Homer became an “everyman” superhero from Comic Book Guy’s comic. Homer got an obnoxious trainer and slimmed down, only to fatten up again as shooting went on. Spoiler – His weight fluctuated so much that it caused continuity problems with the film. So I’m not really buying this story that Affleck wasn’t slim enough to play Batman without a shirt, he looks pretty amazing to me. It could be true though, my standard for “incredibly fit” and Hollywood’s standard are pretty far apart.
In other news, Affleck’s better half Jennifer Garner is one of the three women to cover the upcoming issue of Elle Magazine. (Others include Zoe Saldana and Tina Fey.) She’s clad in menswear and looking to the side, you can see the cover here. Garner tells Elle that Affleck is very encouraging of her career. “My husband is always the one saying to me, ‘You have to work, you have to work. This is part of who you are. We’ll figure it out.’ That’s powerful, when your partner has that serious mantra.” Why do I ascribe less than altruistic motivations to Affleck encouraging Garner to work?
photos are from 10-4 and 10-5. Credit: FameFlynet. Simpsons screenshots from Fox
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