The Justice League experience, the fact that those stories became somewhat repetitive to me and less interesting. Yeah, I did finally figure out how to play that character [Batman], and I nailed it in The Flash. For the five minutes I’m there, it’s really great. A lot of it's just tone. You’ve got to figure out, what’s your version of the person. Who is the guy that fits what you can do? I tried to fit myself into a Batman. And by the way, I like a lot of the stuff we did, especially the first one [Batman v Superman].
Justice League … You could teach a seminar on all the reasons why this is how not to do it. Ranging from production to bad decisions to horrible personal tragedy, and just ending with the most monstrous taste in my mouth. The genius, and the silver lining, is that Zack Snyder eventually went to AT&T and was like, “Look, I can get you four hours of content.” And it’s principally just all the slow motion that he shot in black and white. And one day of shooting with me and him. He was like, “Do you want to come to shoot in my backyard?” I was like, “I think there are unions, Zack. I think we have to make a deal.” But I went and did it. And now [Zack Snyder’s Justice League] is my highest-rated movie on IMDb.
Say what you want, it is my highest-rated career movie. I’ve never had one that went from nadir to pinnacle. Retroactively, it’s a hit. All of a sudden I was getting congratulated for the bomb I’m in. But I was going to direct a Batman, and [Justice League] made me go, “I’m out. I never want to do any of this again. I’m not suited.” That was the worst experience I’ve ever seen in a business that is full of shitty experiences. It broke my heart. There was an idea of someone [Joss Whedon] coming in, like, “I’ll rescue you and we’ll do 60 days of shooting and I’ll write a whole thing around what you have. I’ve got the secret.” And it wasn’t the secret. That was hard. And I started to drink too much. I was back at the hotel in London, it was either that or jump out the window. And I just thought, “This isn’t the life I want. My kids aren’t here. I’m miserable.” You want to go to work and find something interesting to hang onto, rather than just wearing a rubber suit, and most of it you’re just standing against the computer screen going, “If this nuclear waste gets loose, we’ll …” That’s fine. I don’t condescend to that or put it down, but I got to a point where I found it creatively not satisfying. Also just, you’re sweaty and exhausted. And I thought, “I don’t want to participate in this in any way. And I don’t want to squander any more of my life, of which I have a limited amount.”
I would not direct something for the [James] Gunn DC. Absolutely not. I have nothing against James Gunn. Nice guy, sure he’s going to do a great job. I just wouldn’t want to go in and direct in the way they’re doing that. I’m not interested in that.
So sick of Snyder, Affleck, Gadot, Fisher, all those pricks. They were not good movies, period. Time to move on. All the SnyderCutFanBoys are doing is helping delay actually good projects from getting to the screen.
4 hours ago, rono said:Quite an enjoyable read indeed. Mr. Affleck was very candid about his experience in playing Batman and the movies he was in. His time during the filming of the Justice League movie sounds dreadfully lonely. I think his parting shot at James Gunn was partially due to the horrible treatment given to his pal Henry Cavill. Gunn has made a lot of enemies by his ruthless treatment of both the actors and directors of previous DC movies made by Warner Brothers. The knives and elbows in Hollywood can be very sharp.
Given these Directors and producers ate from the trough with glee and produced garbage, Gunn is right to have a total clear out. I don't even like Gunn, I think his stink of bad dad humour is going to infest DC but what choice did WBD have? THe previous dude was dogpoop and people seem to like Gunn's garbage, so business wise it was the right decision
Quite an enjoyable read indeed. Mr. Affleck was very candid about his experience in playing Batman and the movies he was in. His time during the filming of the Justice League movie sounds dreadfully lonely. I think his parting shot at James Gunn was partially due to the horrible treatment given to his pal Henry Cavill. Gunn has made a lot of enemies by his ruthless treatment of both the actors and directors of previous DC movies made by Warner Brothers. The knives and elbows in Hollywood can be very sharp.
