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Affleck on 'Argo'

By JAKE MULLIGAN  |  October 10, 2012

Affleck_Argo

Ben Affleck's Argo may be a 1970s period piece, but that doesn't mean his Iran-set thriller isn't timely.

"The Canadians pulled their diplomats out of Tehran the day we premiered in Toronto. I swear to God if this was a Miramax movie I'd have thought Harvey Weinstein had done it," the writer/director said the afternoon following a rapturous Boston premiere.

Still, don't expect his politics to intrude on the film. Affleck was quick to note that he tried to make something that works "for my friends on the left and on the right. . . . I wanted to tell that narrative without wagging a finger, so you can draw your own conclusions from what happens," he explains. "I do philanthropic work with Cindy McCain, for example; this is totally a movie I would take her or her husband to."

It's hard to blame him for being more interested in cementing his filmmaking chops than in political subtexts.

"I felt like I had something to prove. Everyone just thought of me as 'Boston guy.' Like, 'Sure, he can do a movie set in Boston, but you can't take him to Providence,'" he joked. "But then I thought — fuck, if it's not good, I really am going to only be able to do sequels to The Friends of Eddie Coyle."

  Topics: Features , Boston, Movies, Ben Affleck,  More more >
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