Ben Affleck's "State of Play"

So, besides being one of the world's hottest and most devoted young dads, what has Ben Affleck been up to lately? He scored big directing the film Gone Baby Gone and there was "I'm F***ing Ben Affleck", that hilarious online payback video Ben made with Jimmy Kimmel in response to the Sarah Silverman/Matt Damon joke video so we know Mr. Affleck has one wicked sense of humor and isn't above making fun of himself. This week, Ben gets serious again as he plays a hot young Congressman who is cheating on his wife in the mystery thriller State of Play co-starring Rachel McAdams of The Notebook and Russell Crowe.

The movie solves a juicy murder mystery while concentrating on some very hot-topic current events. It's old-school journalism (represented by Russell Crowe's character) vs. blogger news (personified by Rachel McAdams). We sat down with Ben in Beverly Hills to find out where he stands on that growing controversy as well as playboy politicians and the current Obama administration. Oh yeah, and lighter-weight subjects like wazzup with his family, any new projects with buddy Matt Damon and, hey, what big summer movies are on his "must see" list? Ben looked lean and very casual/cute in blue stripe dress shirt over dark blue tee and jeans.

TeenHollywood: Let's get the big question out of the way. Should we expect to see any more YouTube antics from you?

Ben: [laughs] I hope so. If I find something as funny as that, if Jimmy Kimmel writes me something as funny as that in the future. That was really great. I like Jimmy a lot, he's a great guy. That experience was a lot of fun. It was one of those things where I thought 'Will the Internet still be around when my kids are teenagers?'

TeenHollywood: So, how is fatherhood with a second baby at home?

Ben: It's great. I am very lucky. I feel blessed to look around and see that I've got a healthy family and a job. Especially now days, you really feel very good.

TeenHollywood: Are we passed the banana mashing conflicts?

Ben: Yeah, I'm in a pretty good zone right now. I say that and I'll go home to everything exploded! So far so good.

TeenHollywood: Okay, on to show and news biz. A story will break in print, and then it's on the web and bloggers comment on it. In the past it would just be a story in the newspaper. It wouldn't be on millions of different outlets. Do you think it's hurting or helping?

Ben: Part of the blogging culture that is good is that it's made the traditional press much more nervous. They become more accountable because they are the ones who are most sensitive to what the bloggers are going to say. Most American's don't spend their days worrying what bloggers are going to say. They just read the blogger that they want to read. But mainstream media sweats it because, for the first time, they are actually accountable to someone who is going to write about them and their work. I think that has a very strong impact on mainstream media and how they work. There are a few blogs that are really good and smart. A lot of them are just people who want to be ugly about something. I could start a blog tomorrow. Then I can say 'I heard that so and so is an alien.' Then its on a blog, it's out there, and enough of a source to pick it up and start a fire going. A lot of false stories got started because they were placed in blogs.

TeenHollywood: A lot of newspapers are folding. Do you see them surviving and, if so, what should they do to compete?

Ben: I don't know but I think that this is the last movie that will be set in a newspaper. I don't know how this movie will be perceived but I do believe that people will look back and say 'Oh, yeah. That was the movie that came out right around the time that the Internet destroyed newspapers'. That is happening. The New York Times laid off 200 people. They are cutting salaries. The blogging, the news sites, they are all now superseding the traditional news gathering, ink on dead trees organizations. I don't think that the verdict is in on what that means.

TeenHollywood: Does everyone have to take sides?

Ben: Part of what this movie looks at is the tension between Rachel's [McAdams] and Russell's [Crowe] characters and which side of us is going to win out. What does the world look like with just bloggers gathering news? I think there are two mobs right? One is this incredible, global journalism. For example there were people blogging from Mumbai right when those incidents started happening. You get to the truth and you don't have to worry about bias because you have so many bloggers. You have this 'everyone is a reporter' model. The other model is that everyone is biased, no one sources anything, it's just ugly noise, and we've destroyed our journalistic standards.

TeenHollywood: So somebody needs to be checking some sources for the real truth. Do you and Jennifer subscribe to a daily newspaper?

Ben: We are moving and I get the L.A. Times, and the New York Times, but we only read them online. As we were moving I said 'Why are we going to pay for the newspaper again?' So I didn't. I felt like 'Look! I'm either part of the problem or part of the solution.' I don't know which one.

TeenHollywood: Do we need to know everything?

Ben: I don't think we need to know anything about people's sex lives or personal lives. I think that is totally irrelevant.

TeenHollywood: Is it more harmful in a way then with the instant access and pictures?

Ben: We don't need to know about that stuff. There were no blogs when Monica Lewinsky happened. I think that's a story that kind of bogged down the wheels of government for two years. I don't care. Some people do. Maybe some people think that's a fair reflection on the candidate's character, but I don't. I don't care who you want to sleep with, I'm not voting for your sexual predilections. I'm voting for your policy positions.

TeenHollywood: You play an ambitious young Congressman in State of Play so what was that like? Did you feel more powerful?

Ben: It was good, yeah, exactly. It was good just for a moment to feel the power in my hand. I have to say I think the power of an individual member of Congress is limited in general. It was definitely fun to play a politician.

TeenHollywood: Did you take anything from the John Edwards scandal or similar stories to develop your character?

Ben: We internalize these scandals. They become like cliches. The story breaks, they stand next to the spouse, they say God has forgiven them, or are asking God to forgive them, and they want their constituents to forgive them. Then they go out and spear trash in the park or something trying to reconstitute their political career. One of the things that I think is probably true [whether it's] Gary Condit, Elliot Spitzer or John Edwards, is the notion of us all thinking 'How could she forgive him? How could she stand there with him?'

TeenHollywood: Yeah, it can't be fun to be married to a politician. So what did you research then for the character.

Ben: What was more interesting to me is 'what's the real experience that you wouldn't think of from the outside?' Thinking about it from the point of view of the politician, when that media glare gets put on you and your family, it seemed to me that their instinct would probably be to protect themselves and come together. That way forgiving someone publicly to me seemed obvious. If you were in that situation, for that wife it's probably not even a thought. 'I may give you a hard time about this privately, and rail against you, but when we go out there we are going to be a team. I'm going to forgive you.' To me I was less surprised by it when I did the movie and really thought about it.

TeenHollywood: You spent a lot of time in Washington. Can you talk about the coolest part of that experience having a bird's eye view?

Ben: I thought that the people in Congress would be a little bit reluctant or too busy to have me show up and sniff around, stand in their office. They were quite busy but luckily they felt like people don't understand Congress very well. They felt they hadn't been portrayed fairly in the past. A number of Congressmen said to me 'Yes, you can come in here. I will talk to you. Get it right. It's this, this, that. We don't do this. We do that.' and they had pretty strong opinions. Granted my character has some unflattering behavior. I said 'Listen, I want to tell you right up front. I don't want to say I'm basing my character on you because that won't be good for your political career.' The overall sense that people wanted to get across was that there are folks working hard, people who are intelligent.

TeenHollywood: Is a political career something that is in the back of your head?

Ben: I really like my job that I have now. Plus, unlike in Hollywood where you need one director to hire you, in politics you have to have a lot of people to vote for you. I think it's harder work. I really am happy with what I'm doing now. In fact I've never been at a place where I've felt better about going to work everyday. I'm more engaged and very, very happy.

TeenHollywood: We know that you are very interested in politics. How happy are you with what Obama has accomplished so far?

Ben: Obviously it's quite early in his administration. I think anybody could open the window and know that a lot of folks are having a very hard time out there. They are faced with a steep uphill climb towards the economy collapsing on you. It's going to be challenging. I think that the Obama administration I believe will be defined by how well they handle this economic crisis. Whether or not our economy is back on its feet in the next couple of years, or whether it's still sputtering. I think it's too hard to know now but you can judge Obama as compared to the previous administration and it would be almost impossible for him to fail.

TeenHollywood: You got some praise for directing Gone, Baby Gone. So what was the process of getting back into acting?

Ben: I think it was a relief to not have to worry about everything all the time. Something can go wrong, things can take a long time, and there can be confusion about the scene. I was just able to remind myself that it wasn't my responsibility. I could just go to the trailer and listen to music, or call people, and I didn't have to have that full time anxiety or feeling of responsibility for the movie. Directing a movie was really instructive for me. I think I learned a lot about writing, and a lot about acting, and I learned how all the pieces fit together from the inside. That was really valuable. It was a good thing.

TeenHollywood: Aren't you directing another movie soon?

Ben: Yeah, I'm directing another movie and I'm going to act in the movie as well. That's a slightly daunting prospect, but we'll see. I'm nervous but excited. It's based on a book called 'Prince of Thieves' by Chuck Hogan. There is this neighborhood in Boston called Charlestown where there are more armed robbers per capita than anywhere else in the world. It's about this group of guys who rob a bank, an armored car. Rather than a heist movie it's very realistic. You see how the guys really operate and what they really do. It's about their lives, the connection to one another, and the way that where they live is changing.

TeenHollywood: Does the timing feel right for you and Matt Damon to find a project to work on together?

Ben: Yeah, we were going to do something together the end of this year. Then I took the other thing to direct, so that pushed it off till next year. Supposedly we're doing this thing next year. I think we will. Matt is always pretty busy so he doesn't mind taking a year to wait. I would love to, it's great. Matt lives in Miami so it's hard to get a chance to see him. If we work together its an excuse to hang out. We have a project but we haven't said what it is just because of lame political money reasons. It's possible I would direct it or else we'd both be in it and find a director.

TeenHollywood: Having the Hollywood success you have, what's it like when you and Matt have your families together?

Ben: It's cool. We went on vacation last summer. It's nice. It always has been. He's got his family ballooning, and we're doing okay, it's nice. I think it would be the same for anybody. You're friends when you are young, you have a certain life. Then, in your twenties you have a different life then you get married and have families. It's a different kind of thing. It's a different kind of satisfaction being around the friends you grew up with. They have kids, have barbecues and that kind of deal. That is really satisfying too. Its one of the nice things about having friends for a long time.

TeenHollywood: So which big summer movies are you looking forward to?

Ben: Definitely Star Trek. I'm real excited to see what J.J. [Abrams] did with Star Trek. And 'Terminator' has gotta blow up. Chris Pine, who is in Star Trek was in Smokin' Aces with me. I saw that and said 'This kid is spectacular. He's going to be a very successful actor.' I said 'I think you're going to be great and your career is going to go a long way.' He looked at me like I was crazy. I was really psyched to see he got the Kirk part. Next time you interview him, tell him I said 'Hello.'

TeenHollywood: That should be soon.