Ben Affleck’s New Crime Movie Animals Could’ve Gotten Him Elected as Mayor in Real Life, Here’s How

Ben Affleck has shared a crazy anecdote about filming his new movie Animals. The actor recalled pretending to run for mayor of Los Angeles while shooting the movie.

During his latest appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Ben Affleck recalled speaking with real strangers on the streets of LA, pretending to be a real mayoral candidate while filming his upcoming political thriller, Animals.

“This is one of the most interesting things that have ever happened to me in my career,” Affleck began. “I had this idea because I’m supposed to be a candidate. I said, you know what? Why don’t I just take Stephen, who’s supposed to be playing my campaign manager, somebody with some merch and a shirt, and we’ll just go to The Grove and go around. I’m just going to say, ‘I’m running for mayor.’ It’s a different name, but let’s just see what happens.”

The actor added, “I just wanted to have that real, basic campaign-ad energy and see if we could get it because I didn’t want to cast actors and do the whole thing.”

Affleck went on to reveal that nobody questioned him, and all the strangers truly believed that he was running for mayor in real life.

How strangers responded when Affleck asked for their vote

Affleck recalled that people did not seem surprised when he approached them as his Animals character. “Not one person said to me, ‘What are you talking about? You’re Ben Affleck. You’re not running for mayor,'” the actor shared.

The Gone Girl star continued, “I went around saying, ‘Hey, I’m running for mayor. I’m Mark Kimball. Will you vote for me for mayor?’ And they’d say, ‘Yeah, sure.’ Then I’d ask, ‘What do you want to change about Los Angeles?’ And they would launch right into their thing. It was like, ‘Oh yeah, of course he’s running for mayor.’ Nobody even questioned it.”

Animals is an upcoming crime thriller movie directed by and starring Ben Affleck. The movie follows LA mayoral candidate Mark Kimball, whose life spirals into chaos after his son is kidnapped, forcing him and his wife to scramble to raise the ransom.

Animals also stars Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Adriana Paz, Luis Gerardo Méndez, and Steven Yeun.

Animals arrives on Netflix and in select theaters on October 9, 2026.

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