Affleck takes up directing mantle

By Razia Iqbal
Arts correspondent, BBC News

Affleck says his first directing job piled on the pressure

Hollywood actor Ben Affleck is making his directorial debut with a film about the disappearance of a child.

Around the time Madeleine McCann vanished, Gone Baby Gone was given its US premiere.

But the film's UK release was delayed in the light of Madeleine's disappearance, amid fears that it would be too sensitive for British audiences.

The child actress at the centre of the movie is called Madeline - and she bears a striking resemblance to the missing girl.

Affleck, who won an Oscar with Matt Damon in 1998 for the original screenplay of Good Will Hunting, defended the film company's decision to delay the release.

"It was a good, wise choice. We didn't want to feel that we would be craven in defending it, or be accused of capitalising on it," he said.

"It's not often you can say that you approve of a decision made by big business, but I'm proud to be associated with a company that took that decision."

'Real perils'

Gone Baby Gone is coming out in the UK a year later than planned - but could it still be considered too sensitive?

"There are always going to be those accusations," he said.

"I suppose we could have made a decision to never release the film here, but as time goes by, that looks increasingly unlikely."

The film takes the same Boston setting as Good Will Hunting, an area the 35-year-old knows well.

I gave myself migraines, and generally caused myself a lot of physical pain Ben Affleck on directing Gone Baby Gone (pictured)

Affleck, whose acting career has had mixed success, says the need to make a success of his directorial debut was intense.

"I put a lot of pressure on myself. I overplanned, I gave myself migraines, and generally caused myself a lot of physical pain," he admitted.

His efforts paid off, with some glowing reviews in the US and an Oscar nomination for Amy Ryan, who plays the girl's mother.

Affleck wanted to address the part the media has to play in cases of missing children.

"The media distracts us from caring for the children we do have - the child who is a neighbour, or the one who is being sexually abused upstairs," he explained.

"It takes us away from the real perils of us not taking our responsibilities seriously," added Affleck, who has a two-year-old daughter, Violet.

Affleck took the helm alongside seasoned actors Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris, while nurturing his brother Casey in the film.

While he does not rule out further forays into acting, directing is where he sees his career developing.

Gone Baby Gone is released in the UK on Friday.