Ben Affleck has written and starred in some of the greatest films of the last three decades. Still, as incredible as Ben Affleck‘s career has been, it seems he very nearly didn’t star in what’s arguably his best movie, Gone Girl.
Directed by the inimitable David Fincher (a firm favorite at The Digital Fix and one of the best directors working in Hollywood), Gone Girl is adapted from the Gillian Flynn novel of the same name and sees clueless English professor Nick Dunne (Affleck) becomes the center of a media circus when he’s accused of being involved in the disappearance of his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike).
One of the best thriller movies ever, Gone Girl is a troubling masterpiece, and both Affleck and Pike are simply sensational as the toxic Nick and Amy. Still, in an alternate branch of the ‘Affleck-Verse’, the Good Will Hunting star never played Nick. Instead, Jon Hamm got the role, or at least that’s what Hamm claims.
“Yeah, I was down to the very end of that,” Hamm claimed when asked by a fan about Gone Girl during a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live. “It was meant to be me, but we had to film the continuing adventures of Mr Draper.”
If you’re wondering who Mr. Draper is, have you never seen Mad Men? You really should. It’s one of the best TV series ever made. Anyway, Hamm didn’t seem too torn up about Affleck winning the role. “Poor Ben, a Boston guy, had to wear a Cardinals hat,” Hamm joked: “He was not very happy about it.”
Hamm’s not wrong. Affleck infamously stopped filming Gone Girl over wearing a hat he didn’t like. Yes really. Still, we doubt Affleck was too sore for long, though. Gone Girl was a mega hit generating $369.3 million at the worldwide box office against a production budget of just $61 million. That’s an estimated profit of $129.99 million.
The film also received countless award nominations (Although admittedly, none were for Affleck), and it’s widely considered one of the best movies of 2014. Do you love Affleck? We’ve got a list of the best Ben Affleck movies for you to check out, or maybe you could read about why Affleck and Matt Damon hid a blow job scene in the Good Will Hunting script.