Ben Affleck stars in George Clooney’s latest directorial effort “The Tender Bar” and tells ET Canada’s Carlos Bustamante that when the crew had some downtime during filming, Clooney took them out to the ball game to hit a few dingers. And no surprises here — Affleck says Clooney brought his A-game to the baseball diamond.
“You know, George was almost a pro baseball player. Among his many talents is he is a jock. He’s a very — he can hit. I’m like, ‘Dude you’re 60. You shouldn’t be stroking the ball and getting it out of the park. It’s making everyone look bad,'” Affleck says. “He wanted to get up there… ‘I’m going to show the cast and crew what I can do. Watch me launch a few,’ and everyone had a little more respect for him.”
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In “The Tender Bar”, coming to Prime Video Canada on January 7, Affleck plays Charlie, uncle to Junior (Tye Sheridan). Growing up fatherless in Long Island, NY, Junior seeks out father figures among Charlie and the patrons who frequent his uncle’s bar.
Working with Clooney for the first time, Affleck was willing to do something few would do for their director — namely, getting into the frigid waters of the Atlantic in February.
“George wanted to kind of experiment, have fun. He had created this familial environment. And despite the fact that it was February almost like, you know, ‘People don’t really swim in the ocean in February, George, because you get hypothermia and die,'” he explains. “We were all willing to do it for George because he was so invested and so wanted the movie to be good, and we wanted to be good for him and to be good for him.”
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In the film, Uncle Charlie has no shortage of advice to dole out, and as it turns out, so does Affleck. The actor-director tells ET Canada that he has learned quite a few things when it comes to being a good person.
“As I’ve gotten older because it just involves, like, kindness and forgiveness — both for oneself and for others,” Affleck shares. “Ultimately, I discovered for me, my life will largely be defined by the degree to which I’m able to express that, that love and be present with my children. And work hard. You have to work hard at whatever you do and you have to desire to improve always. Otherwise you kind of get stuck whatever place you are.”
“And if George Clooney says you get in the ocean, get in the ocean,” he quips.