Page Sixpublished a story last night about Ben Affleck and his single life. Their source says he’s been on the dating app Raya and that he was seen at the Hotel Bel-Air a couple of weeks ago with a “young brunette”. Apparently they seemed into each other but there was no PDA during their dinner.
Raya’s been around for a while – at the very least five years, if not more. It started off pretty exclusive, like celebrities and other super-connected people, by invitation only. The membership is larger now with non-celebrities on there but most of them have some sort of connection with the media circle. As for Ben, he’s not new to Raya. People on Raya were talking about Ben on Raya when he and Jennifer Garner officially separated. So I’m not sure why we’re talking about him on Raya now.
Weirdly Page Six cites another source in the same article who says that Ben’s not actually on Raya anymore and that he goes to the Bel-Air often for work meetings, implying that he may not have been romancing the brunette he was dining with? He also, as you’ll recall, had dinner a couple of weeks agowith Laureen Powell Jobsso… I don’t know that we’ve learned anything new. But the point is, Ben’s been quiet. He got out of rehab a year ago. A few months after he and Lindsay Shookus got back together but two months after that, in April of this year, they broke up again and he’s been low-key ever since. Which may be why people are trying to make a story here – since he hasn’t given us one.
Maybe the story is about his work. Ben’s 2020 is looking interesting. His film,The Way Back,我n which he plays a recovering addict who coaches a high school basketball team, comes out in March. He also has a role in Dee Rees’sThe Last Thing He Wanted, based on Joan Didion’s book, starring Anne Hathaway. Netflix has the rights and production wrapped last year so they’re holding it. I wonder if they have film festival plans for it next year. And then there’s Adrian Lyne’sDeep Water.Adrian Lyne hasn’t directed a film sinceUnfaithful我n 2002 but most of you should know his work:9 ½ Weeks, Fatal Attraction, Indecent Proposal… you see a theme emerging?
Deep Water, based on the Patricia Highsmith novel, is about Vic and Melinda, who are in an open marriage and the mind games become dangerous. Vic is Ben Affleck. Melinda is Ana de Armas, not quite a household name yet but she’s a rising star and you’ll fall in love with her in Rian Johnson’sKnives Out, due out next month. So for Ben, it’s like an expansion of the Nick Dunne role he played inGone Girl– a few parts Nick and, maybe, a few more parts Amazing Amy. Filming is reportedlyscheduled to begin next month. Heads up for that Ben Affleck comeback then.
Here's Ben out in LA yesterday.
