Actor Ben Affleck proud to return for sequel to fan-favourite movie The Accountant

LOS ANGELES – He has two Oscars to his name and played Batman in five movies.

But when fans come up to American actor and director Ben Affleck, they often want to talk about one of his more obscure films: The Accountant.

The 2016 action thriller cast Affleck as Christian Wolff, an autistic savant who works as an accountant for criminal organisations, using his mathematical genius to scour their books for irregularities.

He is also adept at martial arts, marksmanship and other combat skills – all of which come in handy when the secrets he uncovers put a target on his back.

They come in handy again in The Accountant 2, which opens in Singapore cinemas on April 24 and sees Christian turning to his estranged brother Brax (Jon Bernthal) – a contract killer – when an acquaintance is found dead.

Affleck made his name with Good Will Hunting (1997), the breakout drama he wrote and starred in with buddy Matt Damon, and for which the duo, at age 25, won a Best Original Screenplay Oscar.

He went on to star in and direct Best Picture Oscar winner Argo (2012), a political thriller, before playing Batman in DC Extended Universe superhero films such as Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice (2016) and The Flash (2023).

But despite The Accountant being one of his smaller projects, it is a film frequently mentioned to him by fans, many of whom discovered it after its initial theatrical release.

“This is a movie that had a longer life in terms of the real-life feedback that I get from people, and what movies they would mention when they come up to me,” says Affleck, 52, at a recent Zoom press conference.

“So, I was, like, ‘Wow, that movie seems like it’s still being watched.’

“And honestly, I’m grateful,” he says of the film, which was produced for US$44 million (S$58 million) and earned a respectable US$155 million at the global box office despite mixed reviews.

“It’s a project I’ve always been incredibly proud of, and one I always thought set the stage for a larger story.

“I think it’s also a function of the fact that streaming really started to take off after this movie, so people had the opportunity to pick what they’re going to watch,” adds Affleck, who headlined action blockbusters such as Armageddon (1998) and Pearl Harbor (2001) early in his career.

Affleck also has a special affection for the role of Christian and the challenge of portraying a highly skilled but neurodivergent person on the autism spectrum.

“I just love this character and I really enjoyed playing him,” says the Hollywood star, who has three children aged 13 to 19 with former wife Jennifer Garner, a 53-year-old American actress.

He subsequently married American actress-singer Jennifer Lopez, 55, before divorcing in February 2025.

The Accountant 2 also expands the role of Brax, whom Christian reunites with at the end of the first movie after not seeing him for years.

But the brothers are polar opposites who constantly butt heads, and their fractious relationship makes the sequel more comedic than the first.

“It was a real thrill for me to get back (to Brax),” says Bernthal, a 48-year-old American actor who played a vigilante superhero in the Marvel series The Punisher (2017 to 2019).

The on-screen comedic chemistry he has with Affleck was not entirely scripted, but “just kind of happened that way”, adds the star, who also won an Emmy for his guest role as a drug addict on the comedy-drama The Bear (2022 to present).

The Accountant 2’s returning American director Gavin O’Connor (The Way Back, 2020; Warrior, 2011) was happy to let Bernthal improvise some of this.

“It was very much supported by Gavin to let moments linger and let them exist naturally.

“I was really let off the leash to have an opinion about that,” says Bernthal, who is married to former nurse Erin Angle, 48, and has three children aged nine to 13.

“And also Jon took pleasure in torturing me,” jokes Affleck. “So that was really funny.”