‘Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice’: Ben Affleck Talks Filming In Detroit
We have seen Ben Affleck on the set of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in Detroit, Michigan. Now the Gone Girl star is sharing some thoughts about his time in the Motor City as he films what is expected to be one of the biggest blockbusters of 2016.
As you may know by now, director Zack Snyder and Warner Bros. chose Affleck to play Batman, which caused a storm of controversy with fans who loudly voiced their discontent. However, here we are, witnessing the proceedings in Detroit, were recently we have spotted the fabulous Batmobile Snyder will use for Batman v Superman, though no sightings of Ben in the Batsuit yet.
Even though Affleck is forbidden to talk about anything related to the much anticipated movie’s plot, he was happy to share some thoughts of his time in Detroit during a recent phone interview (from the Motor City) with USA Today. The Oscar-winning director/actor talked about the months he has spent living in the Midwestern city and how he has tried to contribute to the U.S. car industry, which is coming back to life after some tough times.
“I love it. It’s made a big impression on me. I went and toured some of the car factories. I was really kind of moved by how American industry is actually employing American workers here in Michigan, that it’s really happening, I saw it with my own eyes.
“I went and got a Ford and got a GM car and traded in Japanese cars that I had. I know there are Japanese cars built in Kentucky now, and the world’s a complicated place and so on. It felt right. It felt right to contribute to the economic well-being of this area.”
During the long Batman v Superman shoot, Ben Affleck and his wife, Jennifer Garner, have been out and about mingling with the locals. They celebrated their ninth wedding anniversary with a romantic dinner at Royal Oak’s Bistro 82 earlier in the summer, and Affleck was see proudly displaying a Detroit City t-shirt in his video of the Ice Bucket Challenge, where he playfully threw Garner in the pool after she dumped the icy water on him.
Ben Affleck and his wife have also taken leisurely trips on some rented bikes to enjoy their surroundings. The actor has been inspired to see people working hard to bring their city back to where is should be.
“I went down to Shinola and me and my wife got bikes and drove around,” Affleck says.
However, he’s also seen the not-so-pretty side of Detroit. This was apparent when Affleck was stuck in a traffic jam and saw rows and rows of boarded up houses and blocked streets.
“I was just shocked that that even could be permitted to happen in the United States of America, that we weren’t doing more collectively to improve this, that we were allowing part of our country to languish in this way.”
Witnessing both faces of Detroit — the emerging side and the run down part — has been a revelation for the A-lister, and is perhaps one of the reasons Snyder chose the city as his main location for shooting Batman v Superman.
“There are things to be discouraged by here and there are things to be inspired by here. I find it really dynamic. There are parts that look like Metropolis and parts that look like Gotham City.”
Maybe Ben Affleck is giving us some hints about what we can expect to see when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice flies into theaters on March 25, 2016.
[Image via Zack Snyder]
