The younger Affleck -- who studied physics at New York's Columbia University -- made his small-screen debut opposite Kevin Bacon in the 1988 American Playhouse presentation "Lemon Sky." But it was Affleck's performance as a disaffected youth in director Gus Van Sant's To Die For (1995) that attracted critics' and moviegoers' attention and put the young actor on the Hollywood map.
Affleck has continued to make his mark, with roles in Drowning Mona, Committed, Soul Survivors and Ben Affleck's Gone Baby Gone.