Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Ben Affleck Cameo (That Nobody Noticed)

While the movie version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer came first, it pales in popularity to Joss Whedon’s long-running TV series; even so, it was host to numerous famous faces, including a very young Ben Affleck in an uncredited cameo role that nobody really noticed.

Starring Kristy Swanson in the titular role alongside Beverly Hills, 90210 and Riverdale alum Luke Perry, Donald Sutherland, and Rutger Hauer, the movie acted as a prequel to the story that was eventually transitioned to the small screen under Joss Whedon’s direction. Fran Rubel Kuzui served as the director for the movie, which told the story of Buffy Summers, a teenage girl living in Los Angeles who discovers she is the Slayer, one pre-ordained to stand against vampires, demons, and the forces of darkness. While Joss Whedon was originally involved with the movie as the screenwriter, many of his ideas – including Buffy burning down the gym in the film’s finale – were removed from the final cut.

Though Joss Whedon took the TV show in a much different direction than the movie, both are still enjoyed by fans, and have endured nearly 30 years after the film first came out in 1992. Recently, a spotlight has been placed on Buffy the Vampire Slayer the movie because of Ben Affleck, who disclosed information regarding his struggles on-set in his cameo that was so minor, it almost was unrecognizable as the A-list Hollywood actor.

Uncredited as Basketball Player #10, Ben Affleck has opened up that he only had one line in the movie, but even that was difficult for him to get out, apparently. According to Affleck, his singular line was done so badly that the director, Fran Rubel Kuzui, chose to dub it out with a different voice actor for the film’s finished product. This means that not only was Affleck’s cameo super brief, but it wasn’t even his voice uttering the single line he was given for a scene that was, essentially, background at best.

Of course, this wasn’t a career-breaker for Affleck by any means. In the nearly 30 years since, he has gone on to hold major roles in many different genres of film and has reached A-list status in Hollywood along with critical acclaim. While he’s still been involved with some major flops, such as Gigli, most of Affleck’s choices have been smart ones throughout the actor’s rather impressive career. In the early ’90s, he went from his uncredited cameo to end up landing roles in films like Dazed and Confused, Good Will Hunting, and Chasing Amy, which were certainly more memorable than a background character with a single, dubbed-over line.

In recent years, Affleck has taken on the role of Batman in Justice League and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice in the DCEU, and in 2020, came full circle with a role as a basketball coach in 2020’s The Way Back. While this role has been expressed as very personal to Affleck due to some of his personal struggles that overlap the character’s story in the film, it’s also a strange callback to his rather humble beginnings in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

About The Author

Jack Wilhelmi
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Jack Wilhelmi is the horror features editor at Screen Rant, and has been with the site since 2019. He is a lifelong fan of the horror genre, and loves any excuse to discuss genre-related topics, since none of his friends dare challenge him in horror trivia. He has been published on the independent horror blog Morbidly Beautiful, and has covered major genre film festivals such as Cinepocalypse in Chicago. He has also served as a judge for the Ax Wound Film Festival.

In his free time, he is a devoted dog dad to a high-spirited rescue pup named Peter Quill and enjoys volunteering with various animal rescue organizations. Jack likes to travel and explore dark tourism-related and other various haunted locations. He enjoys studying psychology, the paranormal, and will watch literally any schlocky B-movie on the planet for a laugh.

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