Benjamin Geza Affleck was born on August 15th, 1972 in Berkeley, California. His Father works in a Drug rehabilitation hospital in California and his mother is a Teacher in Cambridge. His younger brother (and only sibling), Casey, is also an actor and co-starred with Ben in "Good Will Hunting."

When Affleck was very young his family relocated to the Boston area. This is where he broke into acting. At the age of eight he starred in PBS’s marine biology-themed "The Voyage of the Mimi." He also struck up a friendship with Matt Damon, a boy two years older than himself who lived down the street.

After Graduating high school the young Affleck dabbled in higher education at both the University of Vermont and California’s Occidental College. He found it all too restricting and opted to give Hollywood a try. He landed parts in made-for-TV movies and had a small role in "School Ties" in 1992 which also featured Matt Damon. Ben followed with work in "Dazed and Confused" (1993), and "Mallrats" in 1995.

Affleck began feeling frustrated with the lack of substantial roles he found in Tinseltown. He received a phone call from long time friend Matt Damon. Damon wanted Ben to help him work on a screen play he had started while at Harvard. Affleck agreed and together they came up with a brilliant story that featured them in the lead characters. However, it was Afflecks brother, Casey, who introduced the pair to director Gus Van Sant. Van Sant had directed Casey in "To Die For." Thanks to Van Sant’s interest the script was picked up by Miramax and in 1997 "Good Will Hunting" was realized.

The movie was a huge success and so were Affleck and Damon. They won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Ben became one of Hollywoods most promising young men. He also gained a lot of attention for his ongoing relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow.

He continued to keep busy with enormous success in Oscar winner "Shakespeare in Love" starring Gwyneth Paltrow and the block buster "Armegedon" (1999) opposite Liv Tyler and Bruce Willis. He has continued with a dizzying pace, appearing in "Forces of Nature," "Boiler Room," "Daddy and Them", and reuniting with Damon in "Dogma."

You can currently catch him in "Deception" co-staring Charlize Theron, as an ex-con trying to mend his ways. He has also tried his hand at directing a short feature with the provocative title "I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Hung Her on a Meathook, and Now I have a Three-Picture Deal at Disney."