No translation needed.
Ben Affleck goes viral for speaking flawless Spanish while promoting his new movie “Air,” which chronicles the revolutionary partnership between NBA legend Michael Jordan and shoe giant Nike.
“The important thing is that this isn’t about Michael Jordan’s story; The 50-year-old Oscar-winning actress isn’t even featured in the film, in near-perfect Spanish during a recent conversation with Spain-based radio station Cadena SER.
The actor and director explained that Jordan, who is considered the greatest basketball player of all time, “is so great, so important, so magnificent that there is no player in the world to play him as the audience would believe.” ”
“They would immediately think, ‘This is all bullshit. This movie is complete bullshit. I don’t believe any of that’” Affleck continued. “And they were going to destroy it completely.”
The Bostonian added that he has so much “respect” for the 60-year-old Jordan that he would not continue filming without the famous athlete’s approval. (Affleck serves as director and stars as billionaire businessman Phil Knight.)
“I had the opportunity to talk to him for about an hour and I asked him, ‘What are the most important parts of this story to you?’ I asked.”
“And she told me,” Affleck continued, pausing to try to remember the character’s Spanish word.
“Personality!” He went out with someone off camera.
The “Argo” star said Jordan had a few notes—none as “important” as making sure Viola Davis played her mother, Deloris Jordan.
“Of course” his casting request, which he’s sure bears fruit, said, “He said to me, ‘You have to have Viola Davis as my mom’.”
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A video of the interview quickly circulated online, with social media users saying, “I didn’t know that Ben Affleck spoke *so* fluent Spanish???”, “Anyone else surprised by Ben Affleck’s fluent Spanish?!,” “About Ben Affleck idgaf but his fluency in Spanish is very sexy for me” and “I am Benito now!”
Even though his Puerto Rican wife Jennifer, whom he married last summer, speaks this language, Affleck has rounded up his R’s for most of his life.
In 2020, Kelly told Clarkson on her self-titled daytime talk show that she modestly spoke “passively” Spanish and said she “learned” the language at age 13 after spending a year filming a TV show in Mexico.
The “Missing Girl” star necessarily noted that her eldest child, Violet, whom she shares with her ex-wife Jennifer Garner, has always been “interested in Spanish” and therefore “often helps” her in her studies.