Ben Affleck - aka Motormouth

Ben Affleck knows his new film Deception will not win him any kudos. Titled Reindeer Games in the US, the film was released in February, replete with Santa costumes and Christmas carols purring in the background. Deception is worth seeing if really big trucks careering round precipitous corners are your thing. It also has two sometimes very decent actors in its lead roles, each of whom is admired by scores of panting things - Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron. But one can't help wondering why they bothered to freeze their attractive butts off during several weeks of nightshoots in the frozen Canadian wastes.

Affleck mentions the film barely twice during the course of our conversation. Instead, he talks about the role of socks in sex, Gwyneth, Matt, money and women. Best of all, his equally savvy publicist never suggests we 'get back to the film' as is usually their wont. Always an interviewer's dream, Affleck makes eye contact, doesn't look at his watch and gives an excellent impression of someone actually relishing the experience. Best of all, he has stuff to say.

He knows, of course, that what everyone wants to know is the state of his relationship with Gwyneth Paltrow. So he talks about Gwyneth, revealingly even, but gives the predictable response: 'My relationship with Gwyneth is that we are friends.' A couple of weeks later she was photographed flying to Hawaii to visit Affleck on the set of Pearl Harbor. Whatever the truth, Affleck knows to keep it under his hat.

Deception should give cinema-goers a better reason to part with their pounds. And it would if Affleck had had his way. 'My sex scene with Charlize Theron was too steamy,' he says, confirming that some of his best clothes-less scenes were relegated to the cutting-room floor. 'Sex is somehow seen as more scandalous than violence. Frankly, I think the opposite is true. Even you Brits are constantly throwing your breasts around the television. So yes, there was a much longer, racier, more erotic version of the scene. And it wasn't like we were even really having sex. I mean, I had a sock on! Brits don't even wear socks. Ewan McGregor is allergic to the socks. He won't do a movie without showing his penis. That's the sign of a real man. If you're not afraid to let it swing in the wind, there's nothing you're afraid of.'

Affleck will live to let his swing in the wind another day, though not in Pearl Harbor, for which he reportedly took a pay cut (which left more of the budget for special effects). He may have a tasty back-end deal (essentially a share of the profits), but either way Affleck is not short of greenbacks right now. He is also remarkably sanguine when discussing salary issues, normally a subject as frowned on by publicists as relationship queries.

He is inclined to quote St Paul on the subject of money. 'He's most often misquoted as saying money is the root of all evil. It's the love of money that is the root of all evil. Now I think that's an interesting distinction.' Affleck even made a film much better than Deception about the very same. 'Boiler Room is a kind of indictment, not just of capitalism per se but the cultural manifestation of capitalism on young men. It's about true avarice which I think can really corrupt your soul, but everyone knows that. The whole world is now essentially a market economy. But it's the love of the pursuit of the money which I think is a danger, and one of the more interesting things I've found in moving from one income tax bracket to another.'

The tax bracket he's talking about leaving behind is the bracket in which earnings are so infinitesimal, there's virtually no tax to pay. Now he loses the bulk of his earnings to tax. 'It didn't change me at all. I once saw a quote from a very well-known actor who said, "I wish everyone could have millions and millions of dollars so they'd understand it doesn't make you happy." At the time, I had no money and remember thinking, "I wish everyone had millions of dollars so they could pay the rent." I think he was slightly short-sighted in making that statement but I understand now why he was saying it. He was struck by the realisation of the cliche that money doesn't make you happy. And beyond basic necessities - new shirt, old shirt, if you know what I mean - I've found no difference. Your job, the things you do creatively, the people you love, the relationships that you have - to me that's the stuff that's rewarding.'

He hasn't always thought this way, of course. When Matt-and-Ben seemed closer than conjoined twins, Affleck had fun on the rollercoaster ride of instant stardom. But the novelty has worn off, it seems. 'It's easy to get tricked into thinking that you have to be making money to find some sense of peace or some happiness or some sense of achievement.'

Many other aspects of Affleck's life have changed irreparably. Women pursue him for his money and fame which makes his relationship with Paltrow unsurprising. She, of course, has enough fame and money of her own. 'For women it's about more. It's about money, power and status. Men are primarily attracted to physical beauty in women. Women are attracted to your ability to provide. I think it's a biological route.'

What, then, does Affleck find attractive in women? 'Well, I'd be lying if I said I don't find women beautiful. But it doesn't matter how beautiful a woman is if I don't find her interesting and funny and she doesn't laugh at my jokes. And I do define a good sense of humour as laughing at my jokes.' Don't all women laugh at his jokes simply because he's Ben Affleck? 'Yeah, that's the problem. It's difficult to tell. It's difficult to tell who is being sincere.'