NEED TO KNOW
Ben Affleck is looking back at the making of 1998's Armageddon
Affleck recalls fighting off food poisoning as he filmed one of the film's most pivotal scenes opposite Bruce Willis
Willis retired from acting in 2022 after being diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia (FTD)
Ben Affleckhad a unique experience on the set ofArmageddonin more ways than one.
In a recent interview, Affleck revealed that he was suffering from food poisoning the day he had to shoot one of the film's most emotional and impactful scenes, where Harry S. Stamper (Bruce Willis) switched places with Affleck's A.J. Frost on the asteroid.
"When we shot that scene, I had food poisoning. I wasn't an experienced enough actor at that point to know that you can just pick up the phone and be like, 'I'm too sick to work today.' I'm like, 'I better come in.' So I went and I was literally — it's the only time it's ever happened in my life — vomiting between takes," he recalled.
"They had a garbage can and I was [vomiting between takes]. And it probably made the scene better," he laughed.
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Affleck shared that the film left an impact on him, affording him the opportunity to work closely with so many talented actors.
"I actually saw Steve Buschemi last night at the premiere forThe Rip,and we were reminiscing about that movie and thinking about how that was the weirdest, kind of wonderful, strange, otherworldly movie experience that neither one of us had any experience with anything like it, " he shared.
Affleck said both actors remembered feeling lucky to work with the film's blockbuster cast, which included Willis, who was "really nice to everybody."
Jerry Bruckheimer, who served as producer on the 1998 hit, previously shared his memories of Willis' kindness on set.
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"Bruce is such a good guy. He was so generous to the crew," Bruckheimer shared, noting that at the end of each week, Willis always contributed to cash giveaways for the crew.
"They'd have drawings, and he'd throw a lot of money in the hat, and the crew members would always take away some nice extra cash at the end of the week, whoever won," he recalled.
Bruckheimer added that Willis is a "giving guy" and calls him a "good friend."
In March 2022, the Willis family announced that Bruce was "stepping away" from his decades-long acting career following his diagnosis withaphasia, a language disorder that is "impacting his cognitive abilities." WifeEmma Heming Willis, 47, then revealed her husband's frontotemporal dementia (FTD) diagnosis just under a year later.
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