Why Ben Affleck Said ‘Gigli’ Doesn’t ‘Sit Right With me’
Ben Affleck’s and Jennifer Lopez’s Gigli was initially what brought the pair together. But it also might’ve started the downward trend Affleck experienced with his career back in the 2000s. And although Affleck didn’t hate Gigli as much as its critics did, there was one aspect of the movie that still made him uncomfortable.
How Ben Affleck really feels about ‘Gigli’
From the outside looking in, many consider Gigli to be one of the worst films in Affleck’s filmography. The movie not only had a very poor box office performance, but it was almost universally panned by film critics. Its 6% score on Rotten Tomatoes indicates just how many people were fond of the feature. However, Affleck still felt there was a good story in Gigli that was mainly overshadowed by his relationship with Lopez.
“People are going to miss the chance to enjoy it, because they’ll go to see the movie and still be carrying all this baggage from the tabloids – or wherever you’ve seen this stuff so it kind of gets in the way. But I hope that after the first 15 minutes or so of watching the movie, they can let that go and enjoy the ride,” Affleck once told BBC.
Although Affleck remains fond of the movie, he confided that there might’ve been a bit of guilt involved when it came to his salary. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Affleck allegedly received $12.5 million for the film. If the report is true, that would mean Affleck made more than the $7 million in box office Gigli infamously generated. Speaking with Deadline, Affleck asserted this was a bit of a sore spot for him.
“Look, I’ve beenremains fond of the movie, he confided that there might’ve been a bit of guilt involved regarding in movies like Gigli, that’s a famous example. I got a big cash payday for that. Well, it doesn’t feel right in retrospect because they lost money. It wasn’t the biggest money-losing movie in history even though it was the most famous bomb in history, perhaps. Nonetheless, that doesn’t sit right with me,” Affleck said.
Ben Affleck revealed that he starred in movies that lost more money than ‘Gigli’
Despite its underwhelming performance, Affleck once shared that he worked on movies that faired even worse than Gigli did. But the failures of those other features didn’t get near the same attention as the 2003 crime comedy did.
“It’s not like it’s worse than all… there’s a bunch of horrible movies and in terms of losing money, I’ve had five movies — at least! — that have lost more money than Gigli has,” he once told Entertainment Weekly.
Still, Gigli might’ve impacted Affleck more than even some of his worse films. It was one of the many bombs during that time period that forced Affleck to reexamine both himself and his career.
“I thought my job was to be a cipher. I can see now how people looked at me and thought of this person as some callow frat guy who’s cavalier, or has too much. It engendered a lot of negative feelings in people about me. There’s that aspect of people that I got to see that was sad and hard, it was depressing and really made me question things and feel disappointed and have a lot of self-doubt,” he said.
But Gigli was a necessary setback for Affleck. Its failure inspired him to become a director, which eventually led to his career resurgence.
“But if the reaction to Gigli hadn’t happened, I probably wouldn’t have ultimately decided, ‘I don’t really have any other avenue but to direct movies,’ which has turned out to be the real love of my professional life. So in those ways, it’s a gift. And I did get to meet Jennifer, the relationship with whom has been really meaningful to me in my life,” he said.
