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Ben Affleck Makes Huge Style Change: Check Out His Brand New Look

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 04:40 PST, Oct 14, 2015

Ben Affleck just made a huge change in his day to day look. The Oscar winner, who picked up his second award for his 2012 film, Argo, shaved off his signature beard. Since he had a good luck streak with the scruffy look, Affleck has had the beard or a semblance of scruff since he took home the Oscar, which helped reignite his career.

Back when he first started as an actor, taking up tent-pole films as the leading hero in films like Armageddon and Pearl Harbor, it was Affleck’s clean cut looks that were featured on the big screen. Now, a pending divorce later, and he’s decided to shave it all off for a very surprising clean shaven look.

Ben made his debut with his new appearance at the Netflix premiere of Beasts of No Nation, where he was joined by John Legend. Affleck wore a stylish black leather jacket, grey jeans, and a black top as he posed for pictures next to Legend.

This new look may not be an indication of him turning over a new leaf in his personal life. It’s said that Affleck’s clean shaven look and loss of his salt and pepper hair is simply just part of pre-production, as the director sets his sights on his newest project, Live By Night.

Affleck is set to direct and star in his adaptation of the Dennis Lehane crime novel, Live By Night. He also adapted the novel that the film is based on. To prep for the film, Affleck has been spotted out and about in Boston and Georgia, scouting locations for his next directorial project. The crime film, which also stars Sienna Miller, Zoe Saldana, Elle Fanning, and Chris Messina, is scheduled to start shooting this fall. Leonardo DiCaprio has signed on to produce the film along with Affleck.

This will be the follow up to Affleck’s award-winning film Argo, so a lot is on the actor-turned-director’s fourth directorial film. So far, all three of his films have been praised by critics, so it will be interesting to see if Affleck turns out another top notch film.

Affleck is very knowledgable about the world Dennis Lehane paints in his crime novels. Ben’s very first directorial film, Gone Baby Gone, was based on a novel by Lehane, so if anything, this should be a return to form for Affleck before he takes on directing a stand-alone Batman film.

According to Variety, the filming of Live By Night will begin in November with an Oscar-friendly release date of October, 2016. Affleck will play Joe Coughlin, a man who has defied his Boston Police Chief of a father, and instead takes a different road and falls into a life of crime. Coughlin rises to power within the organized crime structure.

As for his new look? We can bet that Affleck’s children are loving it, despite the rest of the world’s feelings. When Affleck stopped to chat with People, he told the outlet that his kids weren’t a fan of his beard because it itched them.

“I kept trying to tell my littler kids [that this was for work]. They would say, ‘Why can’t you shave your … prickles? Shave your prickles!’ ”

After Affleck won the Oscar for Argo, there was a beard trimming ceremony that took place at Craig’s restaurant in Hollywood. At the time, Argo producer George Clooney and Affleck’s then-wife, Jennifer Garner, cheered him on as he trimmed the beard. It’s even said that Garner brought the clippers too!

[Photo by Kevin Winter / Getty Images]

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