{"id":70036,"date":"2025-04-21T15:58:33","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T19:58:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/?p=70036"},"modified":"2025-04-30T15:59:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-30T19:59:31","slug":"ben-affleck-opens-up-about-the-discomfort-he-felt-during-a-same-sex-kiss-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/ben-affleck-opens-up-about-the-discomfort-he-felt-during-a-same-sex-kiss-scene\/70036\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Affleck opens up about the discomfort he felt during a same-sex kiss scene"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Affleck is revisiting one of his earliest and most controversial roles\u2014Holden McNeil in Kevin Smith\u2019s 1997 cult classic Chasing Amy<\/em>. In a recent interview with GQ<\/em>, the 52-year-old actor reflected on how the film unexpectedly forced him to confront his own internalized homophobia, especially during a scene where he had to kiss co-star Jason Lee.<\/p>\n

Affleck admitted that the experience was much more difficult than he had anticipated, saying, \u201cI ended up having to confront some of my own internalized homophobia because I found it so difficult to kiss Jason.\u201d He continued, \u201cAnd I thought, \u2018This is really embarrassing. Like, this is clearly some internalized thing because why should that be a difficult thing to do?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

In Chasing Amy<\/em>, Affleck plays a comic book artist who falls in love with a lesbian woman (played by Joey Lauren Adams), while navigating tensions with his business partner, played by Lee. The film explored themes of fluid sexuality and emotional complexity between men\u2014topics that prompted Affleck to deeply reflect on his own views.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the time, what I thought about it was that it kind of alluded to a spectrum of sexual orientation,\u201d Affleck shared. \u201cTo me, it was very suggestive around the homosexuality between the two friends.\u201d He continued to discuss the emotional depth of his character, explaining, \u201cYou love this other man. We have friendships with men that we love very much. And it was a way of looking at how that could also be similar to homosexual relationships. I thought that was honest.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Affleck was not entirely pleased with his portrayal. \u201cI still think I did a s***y and unconvincing job at it, and I\u2019m disappointed by that,\u201d he confessed. Despite his self-criticism, he said he\u2019d appreciate a chance to approach the role again, but acknowledged some hesitation about taking on queer roles today, due to concerns over authenticity and representation: \u201cI don\u2019t want to offend anyone in this direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite these reservations, Affleck remains proud of the film\u2019s legacy. \u201cIt was a movie that, at the time, sort of felt like it was pushing some boundaries,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd in retrospect, as often happens, the world has evolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chasing Amy<\/em> was a modest indie success, grossing $12 million at the box office and earning critical acclaim. The film won two Independent Spirit Awards in 1998\u2014Best Screenplay for Kevin Smith and Best Supporting Actor for Jason Lee. As Affleck reflects on the film decades later, it\u2019s clear that Chasing Amy<\/em> had a lasting impact on his personal growth and understanding of identity, while contributing to ongoing conversations about LGBTQ+ representation in Hollywood.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ben Affleck is revisiting one of his earliest and most controversial roles\u2014Holden McNeil in Kevin Smith\u2019s 1997 cult classic Chasing\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":70037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67],"tags":[1876],"class_list":["post-70036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrity-news","tag-ben-affleck"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70036\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/usa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}