X17 News

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - While wife Jennifer Garner is just weeks away from giving birth to their second child, Ben Affleck is visiting war-torn refugee camps in the Central African country of Congo.

This is Ben's fourth trip to the country since 2007 and he's said to be working on a documentary to raise awareness about the country's plight.

"I'm not an expert in international affairs or diplomacy, but it doesn't take that to see the tremendous suffering here," he told The Associated Press. "It's not something that we as human beings can, in good conscience, ignore."

Ben says he first became interested in Congo when many Hollywood stars were focusing on the situation in nearby Darfur. He says he was shocked when he learned an estimated 5 million people had died in only 4 years during a war in Congo.

"I thought a lot of people are advocating on Darfur. I'd just be a very small log on a big fire. I started getting interested in Congo and I thought, this is a place where I can have a really big impact," he said.

"I think that, for better or worse, people with some profile in the arts have some currency to spend as celebrities. And for a time, I didn't spend that in any particularly productive way. And I got to a point where I thought, this is wasteful."

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Ben Affleck, hoping to draw attention to the plight of refugees in the Congo, will screen a film he directed on the subject at the United Nations, Access Hollywood reports.

"I made a film for the U.N.,” Affleck told Access. “It’s an issue that I care a lot about which is what’s going on in the Congo. So, I made this film for the U.N.H.C.R., which is the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.”

“I really am passionate about the humanitarian situation in the Congo, so I made a film about refugees – kind of centered around what’s happening in the Congo,” Affleck said.

“I’m screening it at the U.N. on the 17th of December, as the opening to a discussion that they’re doing there about refugees.”

Affleck got an assist from one of the world's biggest rock bands.

“The film is set to the Rolling Stones song, “Give Me Shelter,” which was donated by the Rolling Stones,” Affleck said. “It’s another step of being active in the humanitarian space and I’ve been really honored that the U.N. has asked me to make this film and is allowing me to participate in their discussion about refugees which will follow the screening of the film.”

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck welcomed their second child into the world Tuesday night, in Los Angeles.

The baby girl is the second daughter for the couple who met on the set of "Daredevil" in 2004.

No details about the baby, or the newborn's name have been made public.

Garner and Affleck's first child, Violet, was born in 2005.

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck have announced the name of their daughter, born one week ago.

The couple named the girl, Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck, People magazine reports.

The couple's second daughter was born January 6th in Los Angeles.

According to several websites, the name Seraphina is a hebrew name that means "fiery one."

Garner and Affleck also have a 3-year-old daughter name Violet.

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Moving vans were spotted outside Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner's new home in Pacific Palisades on Tuesday.

X17online has confirmed that after looking at several properties in the $20 million dollar range, the couple paid around $17 million dollars for the house which used to be home to super-producer Brian Grazer.

Located in an area popular with celebrities, Affleck and Garner's new neighbors include Adam Sandler, Goldie Hawn & Kurt Russell, Steven Spielberg and Whoopi Goldberg.

The house has 5 bedrooms and 8 bathrooms in about 8,700 square feet of living space. The couple's children Violet and Seraphina will have plenty room to play and explore on the property's three acres of land, which includes a huge pool and beautiful canyon views.

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Ben Affleck is in talks to direct George Clooney and Grant Heslov-produced thriller Argo, which centers around the Tehran hostage crisis.

The story centers on the occupation of the American embassy by Iranians in 1979. The CIA and the Canadian government to extract six U.S. diplomats created a rescue effort. The CIA used a disguise expert and created a scenario involving the six U.S. diplomats posing as a Hollywood crew who is scouting locations for a movie titled Argo. Under those disguises, they were able to flee the country.

Affleck can next be seen in an untitled 2012 Terrence Malick project about "a powerful and moving love story". The film co-stars Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams, and Rachel Weisz.

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Ben Affleck is out of director Baz Luhrmann's 3D retelling of The Great Gatsby.

The director offered Affleck the role of Tom Buchanan a few weeks ago, but the Affleck couldn't fit the film into his schedule. Affleck is directing Argo, about the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, in the Middle East and Gatsby will shoot in Australia.

Luhrmann, whose past films include Moulin Rouge! and Romeo + Juliet, co-wrote and is directing the adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel. He has signed Leonardo DiCaprio to play Jay Gatsby, Carey Mulligan to star as Daisy Buchanan and Tobey Maguire to play Nick Carraway.

Affleck has several projects in the works, including a rumored film with frequent co-star and close friend Matt Damon.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (X17online) - Ben Afflect's hit movie The Town was used by Republicans in the ongoing debt debate in Washington, D.C.

House Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) showed a clip from the Oscar-nominated film before giving his talk on the subject Tuesday, according to the Washington Post.

In the clip, Affleck's character Doug MacRay, a bank robber, asks his friend to help commit a violent revenge. "I need your help. I can’t tell you what it is. You can never ask me about it later," Doug says. The friend replies, “Whose car are we gonna take."

When the clip was over, Representative Allen West (R-Fla.) showed his support by saying, “I’m ready to drive the car." This reportedly surprised West's fellow Republicans because he had previously said he would not support a bill with any tax hikes in it.

Affleck, currently shooting the movie Argo in Turkey, did not respond as enthusiastically. He told the Huffington Post:

"I don't know if this is a compliment or the ultimate repudiation. But if they're going to be watching movies, I think The Company Men is more appropriate."

The Company Men, starring Affleck, Chris Cooper and Tommy Lee Jones, is about a group of middle-aged men who lost their jobs due to the recession. In the film, one of the depressed men later kills himself.

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Matt Damon and Ben Affleck will reunite in an upcoming film.

The two actors will direct, co-star, and produce a mob flick set in their native city of Boston. It will follow the non-fictional story of Whitey Bulger, played by Damon, who was both a hugely prominent criminal and an informant to the FBI.

"Matt and I have been looking for something to do together for some time," Affleck told Deadline. "We've heard about Whitey Bulger since we were kids, and we are excited by the prospect of putting it on screen."

LOS ANGELES, California (X17online) - Ben Affleck has signed on to star in the upcoming Warner Bros. film, Nathan Decker.

The studio picked up the script last year, written by Dan Fogelman (Crazy, Stupid, Love) with Tom Cruise attached. Cruise has since left the project, which prompted Warners to pursue Affleck. The studio is also looking to hire a director for the movie.

The story revolves around a politician who gets caught in an affair and returns to his hometown to confront his past.

Affleck has recently starred in 2010's The Town and is currently in post-production on the thriller Argo.