Ben Affleck says learning line dancing for "The Accountant 2" was like a 'stunt': 'Tom Cruise has nothing on me'
Shania Russell
March 9, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Some actors do their own stunts... others do their own dancing.
And if you ask Ben Affleck, they're one in the same. At the Saturday night SXSW premiere of The Accountant 2, the actor revealed that his most difficult "stunt" in the action sequel was the choreography he had to learn.
"For me, the challenge, of course, was the months and months I spent training to line dance," Affleck said to the delight of the audience, who laughed. "It was a stunt for me."
He quipped, "Tom Cruise has nothing on me!... Just in terms of line dancing."
The Accountant 2 features Affleck reprising the role of autistic accountant and mathematical genius Christian Wolff, who makes a living by freelancing for dangerous criminals. The scene in question shows Chris struggling to flirt with a woman in a bar -- before he finds an alternate path to her heart on the dance floor.
After observing the repetitive motions of a crowd line dancing, he confidently joins in, quickly picks up the steps, and nails it so well that he scores her phone number. The scene earned uproarious applause from the audience at the premiere, Entertainment Weekly can confirm.
In the sequel to the 2016 film, Christian teams up with his estranged brother Braxton (Jon Bernthal), a killer for hire who helps him track down the truth behind a mysterious group of assassins.
Affleck's dancing skills in the flick weren't the only thing that earned him praise on the SXSW stage. Following the screening, Bernthal noted that while the first film delved into the childhood relationship between Chris and Brax, the sequel gave them an opportunity to flesh out the dynamic between the adult brothers -- something he was especially thrilled to do with Affleck as his screen partner.
Related: Ben Affleck and Jon Bernthal reunite for more mathematical murders in The Accountant 2 trailer
"It was such a joy to do it with Ben," he said. "He's a hero of mine, and I admire him so much."
Affleck joked, "You don't have to say that."
But Bernthal insisted, saying, "He's equal parts beautiful person as he is a beautiful artist. It was really cool, and I've said before, but making movies for me is usually knocking my head into a wall and kind of hating myself. But this was very easy. It was very easy to work with him. It was a real joy."
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Gavin O'Connor is back in the director chair for the sequel after helming the first movie, which garnered controversy despite performing well at the box office. Critics specifically zeroed in on the film's portrayal of its neurodivergent character, including EW critic Leah Greenblatt, who in her C+ review observed, "Director Gavin O'Connor (Warrior) seems to know at some level that it's all camp, though it's unclear where he picked up certain elements of his medical definition of autism."
The sequel also sees the return of screenwriter Bill Dubuque and stars Cynthia Addai-Robinson and J.K. Simmons.
The Accountant 2 premieres in theaters April 25.
Additional reporting by Tiffany Kelly.
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly