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Ben Affleck has said Bruce Willis once gave him advice that he thankfully ignored – claiming his Armageddon co-star told him not to bother with Shakespeare in Love.
The two actors starred in the 1998 action thriller shortly before Affleck, now 54, switched things up with his role in John Madden’s romantic comedy, which went on to win seven Oscars including best picture.
In an interview on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, the Batman actor detailed some of the advice Willis shared while they were on the Armageddon set.
He explained: “Bruce Willis once turned to me and was like, ‘Your voice is too high.’ I was like, ‘What?’ He was like, ‘Don’t have that high voice.’ I was like, ‘Bruce, that’s just my voice. Can I change that?’”
Adding that Willis was “the sweetest guy in the world” who “really was giving me a tip”, Affleck continued: “He also was like, ‘Man, don’t go do that Shakespeare movie, man. You don’t wanna do that movie.’ He was wrong about that one. But he hadn’t read the script, in all fairness.”
Affleck played Ned Allen, an actor who appeared in productions at the Globe Theatre, in Shakespeare in Love.
The film saw Joseph Fiennes portray the famous playwright, while Gwyneth Paltrow played his fictional lover Viola de Lesseps – and won her first Oscar in the process. A work of historical fiction, the movie sees Shakespeare suffering from writer’s block until he finds inspiration in noblewoman de Lesseps, who he later embarks on a passionate affair with.
The supporting cast also included the likes of Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Dame Judi Dench. The latter had less than 10 minutes of screen time as Queen Elizabeth I but won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making it one of the shortest Oscar-winning performances of all time.
Shakespeare in Love’s other Academy Award wins included best original screenplay, best music and best costume design.
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Affleck is currently on the promotional trail for his new Netflix film Animals, a crime thriller he has co-written and co-directed, as well as starring in.
As well as revealing some of the projects he’s most proud of, the actor has also candidly discussed some of the lowest points of his career, including 2017’s Justice League.
Affleck played Batman in the movie, which was mired with trouble throughout production – and proved to be so excruciating for the star that he’s sworn off starring in another superhero film.
“The truth is, the experience of Justice League was so, so negative for lots of different reasons,” he said. “Some of which having to do with where I was personally, some of which having to do with the tragedy that happened during the time, and also the fact that I really saw how not to make a movie like that when the studio is at odds with the filmmaker. You’re really making a mistake. That was what really doomed that.”