Ben Affleck plays a Brentwood businessman running for mayor of Los Angeles in the new thriller “Animals.”
The Oscar-winning actor, who directed and wrote the film, is also a long-time political activist who supported the presidential campaigns of Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.
Now, the “Animals” cast wants him to run for elected office.
“Maybe they hate me,” Affleck said at the “Animals” premiere in Los Angeles on Wednesday night.
Kerry Washington plays Affleck’s wife in the movie. “We keep telling him he has to do this, but he doesn’t want to,” she told me. “You know, we’re at a place in our politics right now where anything is possible, but I hope people running for office want to be there, and he’s made it very clear that he doesn’t want to run.”
Luis Gerardo Méndez plays an undocumented Mexican immigrant who finds himself unexpectedly and dangerously involved in the life of a mayoral candidate. “I would definitely vote for him,” Méndez said. “Go Ben Affleck! He’s smart and sexy; that’s all you need.”
However, Affleck will not announce his candidacy anytime soon.
“We no longer ask the question of what your qualifications are to hold public office,” the Oscar-winning actor said. “It’s like, ‘Do you want to join the circus? Who’s the biggest carnivalist?’ “I think one of the interesting things that people can agree on, no matter what side of the aisle you’re on, is the collective disappointment with the direction of American politics.”
Affleck continued: “There’s no one alive right now who thinks, hey, we’re actually doing this right and things are going great and I love this political system. And that’s a problem.”
Affleck says being in office no longer means serving people.
“It’s just about money, it’s about raising money, it’s about playing a kind of teenage game about who can make fun of the other person better or be more reductive and stupid about something rather than actually trying to talk about the issues,” he said. “Frankly, I think what’s missing in politics is that you have to lead. You can’t scare people. You can’t just corner them. You can’t lecture them. You can’t blame them for it. You have to inspire them. Otherwise, they won’t want to vote for you.”
And then he added: “Selfishly, I see how hard it is and I’d rather make movies about it.”
Animals will be released on Netflix and in select theaters on October 9th.