In a deeply reflective conversation with veteran journalist Jorge Ramos on his digital show Así Veo Las Cosas, Academy Award-winning filmmaker and actor Ben Affleck opened up about the intense real-world challenges faced during the production of his new Netflix film, Animals. Affleck revealed that the current sociopolitical climate surrounding immigration was not merely a distant theme for the project, but an active, disruptive force that literally collided with their set on the streets of Los Angeles.
The film, which stars Mexican actors Adriana Paz and Luis Gerardo Méndez alongside a high-profile ensemble cast including Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Steven Yeun, and Ray Fisher, explores the lives of its central immigrant characters with a focus on dignity, humanity, and autonomy. But according to Affleck, making a film that centers on the immigrant experience in the United States today meant stepping directly into a charged environment where fiction and reality frequently blurred.
During their extensive interview, Affleck explained that the production had to be temporarily suspended on multiple occasions because U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operations were actively taking place in the immediate neighborhoods where the crew was filming. Witnessing federal immigration enforcement sweep through the exact areas where they were staging scenes about immigrant lives fundamentally altered the emotional and creative gravity of the project, turning a standard Hollywood shoot into a profound encounter with contemporary social reality.
He Knew Making This Film Was a Risk and He Made It Anyway
From the outset of development, Affleck was fully aware that placing immigrant characters at the absolute center of a high-profile feature film carried professional and commercial risks in the current American political climate. Rather than shying away from those tensions, he leaned into them, driven by the conviction that storytelling must engage with the pressing realities of the world. He told Ramos that his primary creative objective was to portray immigrants as three-dimensional people with complete dignity—individuals who serve as the undeniable protagonists of their own narratives rather than functioning as mere background elements or supporting players in someone else’s story.
This commitment also extended to challenging long-standing commercial anxieties within the entertainment industry. Affleck addressed the persistent Hollywood myth that English-speaking audiences harbor an inherent resistance to subtitles, often shunning stories told in other languages. By refusing to water down the authenticity of the characters or compromise their cultural roots, Affleck pushed past traditional studio calculations. He argued that the vital social relevance of the narrative and the ethical imperative to represent the immigrant experience honestly far outweighed any conventional box-office assumptions about language preferences.
To ensure absolute authenticity, Affleck took the unusual and collaborative step of handing creative control over the dialogue directly to his Mexican leads. Rather than relying on translated or formulaic scriptwriting, he asked Adriana Paz and Luis Gerardo Méndez to write their own lines. This approach allowed the actors to craft conversations that felt genuinely organic to their lived experiences and cultural backgrounds, bringing a layer of truth to the screen that standard Hollywood writing rooms could rarely replicate on their own.
ICE Was Operating on His Filming Locations and the Script Was Playing Out in Real Life
The interview with Jorge Ramos brought to light how deeply the external political climate penetrated the controlled environment of a film set. As debates over immigration enforcement, border policies, and community safety dominated national headlines, the crew of Animals found themselves experiencing those very policies firsthand. Affleck described the surreal and sobering moments when production had to be paused because ICE agents were conducting operations nearby in Los Angeles.
Watching the fictional struggles written into the screenplay materialize on the actual streets surrounding the camera transformed the entire production process. Affleck noted that witnessing these events in real time gave the film a profound depth and urgency that no amount of traditional pre-production research could ever manufacture. This jarring collision between art and life reinforced the director’s sense of responsibility toward his subjects, ensuring that the portrayal of Luis, Adriana, and the broader immigrant community remained grounded, respectful, and fiercely relevant.
The production was handled in association with Artists Equity, the artist-first studio Affleck co-founded alongside longtime collaborator Matt Damon. By utilizing an infrastructure designed to give creators and performers more control over their work, Affleck was able to protect the artistic integrity of Animals even as external pressures mounted during the shoot.
He Said This Is a Country of Immigrants and His Family Proves It
For Affleck, the decision to direct Animals was not an exercise in detached political commentary or opportunistic topicality. It was deeply personal. He emphasized to Ramos that the United States is fundamentally a nation built by immigrants, pointing out that his own family history is rooted in the immigrant experience. To Affleck, the struggles and aspirations of Luis and Adriana are not isolated tales from the margins, but part of the broader, ongoing story of America itself—a country whose identity has continually been shaped, challenged, and enriched by generations of people leaving their homelands to build new lives.
By bringing together an eclectic and talented cast that bridges Hollywood stars and prominent international talent, Affleck aimed to create a cinematic experience that speaks directly to the complexities of modern society. Released globally through Netflix, Animals arrives at a time when conversations regarding immigration, human dignity, and cultural representation remain fiercely contested across the United States. Through his conversation with Jorge Ramos, Affleck made it clear that the film stands as both a reflection of these urgent national debates and a testament to the resilience of the people living through them every day.
