How Did Movie Wipeouts Turn Ben Affleck Into a Director?

Ben Affleck says failure and setbacks brought some of the best things that ever happened to him. He got lucky and successful young, then hit real failure not long after. Three or four movies in a row wiped out. He thought he might not work again, and people he had taken for friends stopped calling him back.

He decided he had to make it again as a director. The pitch for his first movie was that he was not in it, because that was where his acting career stood. Every movie he made felt like make or break. He had to work or he was not going to work. The pressure made him work harder and stay more dedicated, which he says is what it took to succeed. Early on as a director the work was all-consuming. He says he does not know that he is any more talented than anyone else, or that he knows how to do the job any better than anyone else, but he can work harder than anyone else.

The same run of failure also settled what he values. He loves his work because it gives him purpose, and he will not compromise the time he has with his kids. He brings humility, brings other people into the work, and listens when someone else has a better idea.