UNITED KINGDOM: Matt Damon makes surprise appearance at best pal Ben Affleck's UK premiere of 'Hollywoodland' but doesn't speak to reporters

Ben Affleck and Matt Damon go back a long way and fans on Monday (October 30) were excited when Damon showed up for his best friend's movie premiere 'Hollywoodland', although he was keen to leave the media interest for his friend. Affleck, Adrien Brody, and Bob Hoskins were all in London as part of the annual London Film Festival which concludes on Wednesday (November 1). "Hollywoodland" is a new film that uses the mysterious death of 1950s Superman star George Reeves to examine the pitfalls of Hollywood fame. It's Affleck's first role after a two-year break from the big screen. Critics are praising his performance as George Reeves, the Venice Film Festival awarded him the best actor award and there's even talk of a possible Oscar nomination. Although pleased with his success so far, Affleck was cautious not to pay too much attention yet to the Academy Awards: "I certainly feel, it's nice to have a movie that people kind of like in general you know, I try not to be too focussed on any kind of outside approbation, but certainly it is nice I mean you know it's better than having a movie that people don't like." Affleck, who has famously enjoyed as many lows to his movie career as highs, acknowledged he had plenty in common with Reeves, but stopped short of describing his performance as a "comeback" after a string of critical flops in recent years. "I'm not sure what to think really, I don't know if it's good or bad it's hard to tell, I haven't done a movie in a couple of years but I don't think they mean it in a kind of literal sense, although it's sort of part of that. I mean I think again it probably means they like the movie I guess", he said. Affleck appeared keen to distance himself from his recent past, marked by obsessive tabloid interest in his relationship with singer Jennifer Lopez with whom he made the critically panned "Gigli". Affleck, married to Jennifer Gardner with whom he has a young daughter, said fatherhood agreed very well with him: "It agrees with me much more than I ever thought it would. It is really really wonderful and it's definitely the best thing I've ever done."

ITN Source | November 2, 2006

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