Ben Affleck's Hollywood Rise

By the age of thirty five Ben Affleck had reached a level of fame that must have seemed a world away when, along with pal Matt Damon, he penned Good Will Hunting, for which they won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

Several big budget movies later including Armageddon, Pearl Harbour and Changing Lanes he was a bona fide Hollywood leading man with his personal life, in particular his relationship with multi-time married Jennifer Lopez, splashed all over the front pages of newspapers and magazines.

But this colourful private life had seen his career nose dive with a string of box office flops including Daredevil, Jersey Girl and the notoriously awful Gigli.

In comparison his good friend Matt Damon, who had stayed out of the public eye, was seeing his career rise with the Bourne franchise and the Ocean's movies.

Splitting from Lopez he began dating his Daredevil co-star Jennifer Garner, who is now his wife and mother of his daughter Violet, and took a break from movies.

Moving away from the blockbuster he had become so associated with Affleck made his comeback in 2006 in the critically acclaimed Hollywoodland, a biopic of George Reeves, known for his role as Superman who died suspiciously.

But then Affleck made a move no one way expecting he moved behind the camera to direct his brother Casey in Gone Baby Gone, he also penned the script.

Despite this being the first time as director for Affleck this didn't seem to bother the high caliber cast from signing on the dotted line to star in the film.

Michelle Monaghan, Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris and Amy Ryan all join Casey for this crime drama.

Despite the release of the movie being delayed in the UK due to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann the movie was a critical hit in America.

Affleck returned to acting with role in He's Just Not That Into You and State of Play but he is now back in the director's chair for his new project The Town.

Written by Affleck, along with Peter Craig and Aaron Stockard, the movie also sees him on the cast list alongside Rebecca Hall, Blake Lively, Pete Postlethwaite and Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner.

Doug MacRay is an unrepentant criminal, the de facto leader of a group of ruthless bank robbers who pride themselves in stealing what they want and getting out clean.

With no real attachments, Doug never has to fear losing anyone close to him. But that all changed on the gang's latest job, when they briefly took a hostage--bank manager, Claire Keesey.

Though they let her go unharmed, Claire is nervously aware that the robbers know her name and where she lives. But she lets her guard down when she meets an unassuming and rather charming man named Doug not realizing that he is the same man who only days earlier had terrorized her.

The instant attraction between them gradually turns into a passionate romance that threatens to take them both down a dangerous, and potentially deadly, path.

The movie has already topped the U.S. box office and been met very well by the critics in America as Affleck once again shows off his talent behind the camera.

The Town is released 24th September.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw