In a deeply personal and revealing sit-down interview with renowned journalist Jorge Ramos for his digital show Así Veo Las Cosas, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ben Affleck opened up about the intense real-world pressures and creative convictions behind his new Netflix film, Animals. Affleck made it clear that the project—which delves heavily into the immigrant experience—was never intended to be a detached, purely commercial exercise. Instead, the director approached the film with the profound belief that the United States is fundamentally a country of immigrants, noting that his own family and heritage have been shaped by that very reality.
Centering on the lives of two Mexican characters, Luis and Adriana, Animals is designed to place immigrant narratives firmly at the forefront. During his conversation with Ramos, Affleck discussed the deliberate risks he knew he was taking by bringing such a politically and socially charged story to the screen in the current U.S. climate. Rather than shying away from controversy, the director embraced the challenge, arguing that the social relevance of the subject matter demanded absolute honesty, dignity, and a refusal to passively accept industry conventions regarding foreign-language subtitles and non-English storytelling.
He Knew Making This Film Was a Risk and He Made It Anyway
Affleck was remarkably candid about the hurdles he anticipated when deciding to direct a movie that centers on the dignity, humanity, and agency of immigrant protagonists. In the modern American cinematic landscape, commercial calculations often dictate that stories must be tailored exclusively for English-speaking audiences to maximize box-office and streaming appeal. Industry assumptions have long suggested that mainstream audiences suffer from "subtitle resistance," frequently shying away from foreign languages or complex, non-Western cultural perspectives.
Pushing back aggressively against those commercial anxieties, Affleck chose to make the film on his own terms. He explained to Ramos that his primary creative objective was to portray immigrants as three-dimensional human beings who drive their own narratives rather than serving as mere background elements or supporting props in someone else’s story. By handing significant creative control over to his Mexican leads—asking acclaimed actors Adriana Paz and Luis Gerardo Méndez to write their own dialogue to ensure authentic conversations on screen—Affleck subverted traditional Hollywood hierarchies. He recognized that taking on these themes in today’s polarized political climate carried professional and commercial risks, but he ultimately decided that the cultural and social necessity of telling the story truthfully far outweighed any potential industry backlash.
ICE Was Operating on His Filming Locations and the Script Was Playing Out in Real Life
The production of Animals in Los Angeles ultimately transcended standard filmmaking, colliding dramatically with the harsh realities of contemporary American immigration enforcement. Affleck detailed a series of extraordinary events during the shoot when production had to be abruptly paused because Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations were actively taking place in the immediate neighborhoods where the cast and crew were working.
Watching the very socio-political tensions written into the script manifest in real time on the streets around him profoundly altered the production. Rather than viewing these interruptions as mere logistical inconveniences, Affleck described them as a surreal and sobering collision between fiction and reality. This surreal overlap sharpened his focus and deepened his appreciation for the gravity of the project. It reinforced why the narrative needed to exist in the first place, instilling the cast and crew with an acute sense of responsibility to get the human stories right. This real-world backdrop also explains why Affleck insisted on deep authenticity, collaborating closely with Paz and Méndez to ensure their characters’ voices reflected genuine lived experiences rather than Hollywood approximations.
He Said This Is a Country of Immigrants and His Family Proves It
Affleck’s motivation for directing Animals stems from a deeply held personal worldview. During his conversation with Ramos, the filmmaker emphasized that his own background and family history are rooted in the immigrant experience, giving him a personal stake in the broader conversation surrounding U.S. immigration policy and cultural identity. He asserted that the struggles and triumphs of characters like Luis and Adriana are fundamentally intertwined with the broader story of the United States—a nation built and sustained by individuals who crossed borders to forge new lives.
This thematic dedication is backed by a powerhouse creative team and an ensemble cast. Produced in association with Artists Equity, the studio Affleck co-founded with longtime collaborator Matt Damon, Animals features a diverse and high-profile cast that includes Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, and Ray Fisher alongside its Mexican leads. By bringing together top-tier Hollywood talent with authentic Latino storytelling, Affleck aimed to spark meaningful dialogue. Now streaming on Netflix, Animals arrives at a time when the debate over immigration, human dignity, and the American identity remains as urgent and personal as ever for millions of viewers.
