Ben Affleck

Biography: Ben Affleck first appeared as a tyke visiting Mayan ruins in PBS' The Voyage of the Mimi and has appeared on TV and in motion pictures since. Affleck first won notice trying to find his mother (Madeline Kahn) a suitable husband in Wanted: The Perfect Guy, an Afterschool Special. Other TV appearances included Hands of a Stranger (NBC, 1987), Danielle Steel's "Daddy" (NBC, 1991), Against the Grain (NBC, 1993), Lifestories: Families in Crisis (HBO, 1994) and Body to Die For: The Aaron Henry Story. On the big screen, Affleck played a teen heavy in features ranging from School Ties (1992) to Dazed and Confused (1993). He also appeared in the ensemble cast of Kevin Smith's Mallrats (1995), subsequently landing the lead in Smith's Chasing Amy (1997) as a young man who falls in love with a lesbian. He played alongside Jeremy Davies in Going All the Way, a period drama about Korean War veterans, and Peter O'Toole in Phantoms (both 1997), a thriller. In 1996, Miramax purchased the rights to Good Will Hunting (1997), a script cowritten by Affleck with his School Ties costar, Matt Damon. The drama, about a young mathematical genius unsure whether his talent is gift or a curse, also cast Robin Williams. Gus Van Sant directed