Ever hear people complaining about an actor looking ‘too modern’ for a historical drama? If you say no, then I’m pretty sure you’re not being truthful. Netflix’s Persuasion (2022) caught a lot of criticism from fans over Dakota Johnson’s casting, as they believed she looked ‘too modern’ for the Regency era. Though it wasn’t on my Bingo card that a former Batman star would be the one explaining the phenomenon. Ben Affleck just explained what ‘iPhone Face’ in Hollywood is, and now I can’t unsee it.
I never thought about Affleck looking contemporary. Though I also have to admit, when I do think of the actor's movies, I don’t typically think about historical dramas. Apparently, neither do his children, who are the ones that first schooled him on the term. He shared the story with Kareem Rahma on Subway Takes:
My kids told me recently, they were like, ‘You have iPhone face.’ And I was like, ‘What the fuck is iPhone face? iPhone Face is that you can’t be believed in a period movie because you have a face that looks like it has seen an iPhone.
The actor shares three children with his ex-wife Jennifer Garner, and this isn’t the first time they’ve roasted him. They’ve previously called out Armageddon for not being “a logic-based film.” Kids have a way of keeping us humble. While his children think he looks too contemporary, the actor HAS starred in a historical drama not too long ago with his BFF Matt Damon.
In 2022, Affleck starred in Ridley Scott’s The Last Duel, which was set during 14th-century France (aka the Hundred Years' War). The movie, a book-to-screen adaptation based on a work by Eric Jager (which was based on real events), told the story of the last officially recognized judicial duel. Unfortunately, it bombed at the box office, but fans seemed to genuinely enjoy Affleck’s role. The poor performance in theaters hasn't stopped the actor from loving the film, but he does admit he understands the iPhone Face complaints in an exchange with Rahma:
- Ben Affleck: I did a period movie actually, that I really liked. It was a bomb, but part of it was like, I kind of understood what they mean. If you know somebody and you’re pretty familiar with them, and all of a sudden when you see them in the Middle Ages, you’re kind of like, ‘Ah, bullshit.’
- Kareem Rahma: I don’t think you have iPhone Face.
- Ben Affleck: You don’t think so?
- Kareem Rahma: I don’t think you have iPhone Face. I think Austin Butler, who I like, has iPhone face.
- Ben Affleck: Austin Butler is a very talented actor. You think he’s just good-looking. You know what I mean? That’s not necessarily iPhone face.
I didn’t expect Austin Butler to be called out like that, especially since the actor has multiple historical roles under his hat, including Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis. However, I enjoyed how quick Affleck was to defend him. Overall, iPhone Face certainly hasn’t stopped big-name actors from taking a chance on history. You don’t need to go any further than this year, which gave us everything from Wuthering Heights to The Odyssey. Both have a stacked cast.
However, before The Odyssey even hit theaters, it was already seeing some fan criticism over a few of the casting choices. Additionally, similar to how Netflix tweaked Persuasion to have modern dialogue, this movie also received complaints about the American accents used. Does this mean there’s an ‘iPhone Voice’?
Thankfully, Affleck hasn’t had to worry about his iPhone Face standing out as his more recent works have been contemporary. At the beginning of the year, he starred in The Rip, which was loosely inspired by 2016 events, and Animals, which takes place in modern-day LA. (Both movies can be watched with a Netflix subscription.)
The big question is: if Affleck has an iPhone Face, does Matt Damon? He did score big with The Odyssey.
