‘It’s Action with Intelligence’
Ben Affleck’s changing moods are a treat for the paparazzi and those meme makers on Instagram. From casually slamming the car door to smoking a cigarette in style, Affleck is a charmer for some and a red flag for others. The 52-year-old actor has recently been making headlines for his divorce with actor-singer Jennifer Lopez. But, returning to playing a number-crunching killer with the sequel to his 2016 film The Accountant is making the ever-so-moody Affleck look colourful. The sequel has passed a domestic box office milestone. It features the return of his autistic accountant character Christian Wolff alongside Jon Bernthal as his brother Braxton.
You haven’t made many sequels in your career. What made you want to carry on the story of The Accountant?
We didn’t know for sure that we were going to come back and do another one, but then the response to the first one was just so incredibly positive that it made sense. People would come up to me and say how they streamed the first one and loved it, and when are we going to get The Accountant 2? Christian Wolff is a character I was interested to come back to, and I was especially excited to explore more of this world with my director Gavin O’Connor and writer Bill Dubuque. They really came up with an idea for a sequel. So, we were all very happy to come back.
A movie about an accountant is not what many would expect to be so thrilling. For those who are perhaps still catching up with his adventures, what kind of accountant is Christian Wolff?
Christian Wolff is not your average accountant; that’s fair to say. His gift is solving puzzles, complex problems and tracking down financial deception. He is super-smart when it comes to numbers, not so much with people and relationships. He also happens to be expertly trained, both as a money launderer and a deadly weapon. But in terms of managing his personal relationships, he has a hard time coping. He is trying to figure out how to have a relationship with a woman, how to be a good date and how to reconnect with his brother. That is really the heart of the character beyond what he does for a living and just what a deadly weapon he is.
What aspect of the character were you most excited to explore in this sequel?
The biggest appeal to me as an actor was to expand on Wolff’s relationship with his brother. I loved working with Jon in the first movie. We had a lot of fun building from where we left things with these characters. I feel like all the characters from the first movie are really expanded on and fleshed out in this one. Everyone gets their moment to shine.
How do you think you would do as an accountant in real life?
Terrible! Christian Wolff is insanely smart. That is the aspect of the character I had to fake the most, for sure.
What about the physical challenge of playing the action-movie side of this character?
That is more fun for me, but, yes, it’s challenging, of course, especially when you are working with someone like Jon. He is so spectacularly good at all that stuff. Cynthia (Addai-Robinson) is also incredible and super badass in the movie. I just try to keep up. But the action in this one is even more incredible than the first movie. The action sequences are amazing, and they are not just there for the sake of just seeing stuff blow up, a car chase or a gunfight. All the action scenes make sense, and because of the way Gavin works, you care about the people involved and what happens to them. It’s action with intelligence and humour to it. You feel the tension because you are so invested in these characters.
What was the toughest stunt you faced in this one?
There’s a big line dancing scene in the movie. I spent months training for that scene. That was the toughest stunt by far.
What are the chances of The Accountant 3 happening, and are there any other sequels to your past movies you’d like to make?
We’ll see what happens. Right now, I don’t know, but we’ll see. Other sequels? You mean like Good Will Hunting 2? I don’t think that would work.