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Having starred as Bridget inThe Sisterhood of the Traveling Pantsand in CW’sGossip Girl, by the late 2000s, Blake Lively had already cemented herself as a notable name in showbiz. However, Ben Affleck was pretty oblivious to Lively’s filmography when she auditioned forThe Town.
Considering the entire film hinged on the character of Krista Coughlin, getting it right was the most challenging part of the casting process. With no idea about Lively’s prior work, Affleck initially felt that she was just another attractive blonde girl, but Lively did make him eat his own words.
Ben Affleck Wanted the Credit for Putting Blake Lively on the Map
WhileBen Affleckwas going from actress to actress to find the right fit for Krista, one reading fromBlake Livelyassured the director that she was the one for the job. Moreover, Affleck had a hunch that she was going to blow up, unbeknownst to the fact that she was already a major name in the business, and laterjokedthat he deserved credit for putting Lively on the map, even though he“didn’t quite discover her”.
This girl came in, and no one had said to me beforehand, ‘Hey, look for this person. And obviously she was really attractive, and so I thought, ‘Oh, here comes some blonde girl’. She came in, did one reading, and just crushed it.
I just said, ‘Look, there’s no alternative. I don’t have a second choice.’ I want to be on the record because I think she’s really going to blow up, and I want to look like the smart guy. I didn’t quite discover her, but at least I want to say I bought the stock when it wasn’t $500 a share.”
However, Affleck can’t be blamed completely for being oblivious to Lively’s past works, as the actress herself refused to speak abouther history in showbizduringThe Town’s audition.
Blake Lively Did Her Own Research To Ensure She Was Taking the Gig Home
Although it didn’t take Blake Lively long to leave a lasting impression on Affleck, getting it right on her first reading took a lot of preparation beforehand. From working with several dialect coaches to learn the Boston accent to doing“incredibly thorough, diligent, independent research”on her own, Lively ensured no other actress stood a chance against her.
Blake Lively Might Just Have Killed Her Cash Cow ‘It Ends With Us’ as Its Sequel is in Jeopardy Even After More Than 9X Profit at Box Office
Afflecktoldthe actress:
You were by far the best, and when I asked you how you got everything down, it turned out that you had tried to work with this one dialect coach, and then tried another one, and then just started doing all of this incredibly thorough, diligent, independent research on your own — seeking out people who spoke the way your character does, seeking out people whose own life experiences you could draw upon.
Even though Lively had already built a career beforeThe Town, the acclaimed thriller did put her dramatic chops at the forefront.
“Blake had to marry Ryan Reynolds to become remotely as famous”: Leonardo DiCaprio’s Movie Has Given Birth to a Serious Cold War Between Margot Robbie and Blake Lively (Report)
The Townis available to rent on Apple TV.
Santanu Roy
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2539
Santanu Roy is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, majorly focusing on movies, with over 2,000 articles under his belt. He has been pursuing a degree in Animation and possesses a deep love for the medium of animation. Having spent the better part of the last two years pumping out articles for FW, Santanu excels at covering movie analysis and news surrounding Pixar, DCU, DreamWorks, and Batman’s cinematic legacy.With psychological thrillers and intimate slice-of-life dramas ranking among his favorite genres, Santanu is a big admirer of Luca Guadagnino, Shane Black, Park Chan-wook, and Brad Bird.
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