By Fred Topel | Images property of Universal Pictures
State of Play
Ben Affleck plays a scandalized politician in State of Play. He’s exposed having an affair, and may be involved in even more seedy cover-ups. That’s what the mystery is about. To play the Congressman, Affleck got to spend time on Capitol Hill.
Affleck Talks State of Play
“I thought that the people in Congress would be a little bit reluctant,” Affleck said. “Not even reluctant but too busy to have the time to have me show up and sniff around, stand in their office, or do anything. They were quite busy but luckily they felt like people don’t understand Congress very well. In terms of their opinion of them, they felt they hadn’t been portrayed fairly in the past. A number of Congressmen said to me ‘Yes, you can come in here. I will talk to you. Get it right. It’s this, this, that. We don’t do this. We do that’ and they had pretty strong opinions.”
Then Affleck had to break the news of the film’s story to them. “ Granted my character has some unflattering behavior. I said ‘Listen, I want to tell you right up front. I don’t want to say I’m basing my character on you because that won’t be good for your political career.’ The overall sense that people wanted to get across was that there are folks working hard, people who are intelligent. There is a bias people have about Congress. There is this huge lumbering body, that gives away money, like the big sloppy Muppets from Dark Crystal that march next to each other incredibly slowly. That wasn’t what I saw. It was something much faster, much faster Muppets.”
State of Play
State of Play
Affleck got to experience a little bit of the power Congressmen hold, and get to give it back after filming. “It was good just for a moment to feel the power in my hand. I have to say I think the power of an individual member of Congress is limited in general. It was definitely fun to play a politician.”
The film also explores the changing world of journalism, with an old school print reporter teaming up with a blogger. Affleck chimed in on that aspect of the story, admitting his family has moved to online news. “We are moving, and I just had this conversation, I feel like I’m in the mean of society. We are moving and I get the L.A. Times, and the New York Times, but we only read them online. As we were moving I said, ‘Why are we going to pay for the newspaper again?’ So I didn’t. I felt like I’m either part of the problem or part of the solution. I don’t know which one.”
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