Ben Affleck covers DETAILS magazine

On what made him decide to star in ‘Argo’:
“I liked the idea of being in the movie, pushing it forward. As an actor, you can steer a scene in another direction by playing it a little differently. And honestly? I like being an actor, and I want to keep having a career. It’d be very easy for me to get lost in directing for a year and a half or two. It’s a business with a very short memory.”

On conserving his resources as a father of three:
“Absolutely. Anytime you think, ‘I’m wasting my time here,’ the first thought you have is ‘I could go home and be with my kids.’ Now, you may go home and be with your kids and very quickly start thinking, ‘I wonder what’s on the work front?’ Because running around after three kids is very trying. Now everything has to compete with being with my family. I don’t want to be a stay-at-home dad. Work is very important to me. I like to work. So does my wife. But I need my work to mean something to me in order for me to not be home with them.”

On whether he thinks he’d like to direct again:
“I’d like to find another movie to do this fall. Or if not, not. Because I’m gonna whistle-stop this movie. Between Europe and here, it’ll be two months of promotion. Which I would never do if I just acted in a movie. But if you direct, you’ll basically do anything. It’ll be exhausting, but there’s a lot to talk about. Politics, Hollywood, history, the seventies, seventies movies! It’s not just ‘Do you remember your first kiss?’”