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Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck’s Spanish skills are impressing fans!

After the Boston-bred actor and director, 50, recently spoke with Spain-based radio station La Cadena SER about his new movieAir, thevideo of him speaking perfect Spanishwent viral.

In the interview, Affleck noted that there is no one who appears asMichael Jordanin the film despite Jordan being at the center of the plot, as “There is no actor in the world that the audience would believe” as theNBAlegend, now 60.

“They would immediately think, ‘All this is bulls—,’ " he joked. " ‘It’s a bulls— movie. I don’t believe it.’ And completely destroy it.”

“I had to give Michael Jordan my respect,” Affleck added in part, still in Spanish, before going on to discuss the importance he placed on honoring the athlete’s legacy.

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“When he speaks Spanish, he also immersed himself in the culture,” one comment read. “You can see it in the jokes, [choice] of words [and] mannerisms.”

“Didn’t know Ben could speak Spanish. Way to go man!!” another wrote, while a third requested, “Wow can we hear more Ben speaking Spanish?”

Others joked that his skills might even rival those of his wifeJennifer Lopez, who is also fluent in the languageand has Latina roots, as her parents wereboth born in Puerto Rico.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck.Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck attend the Amazon Studios' World Premiere of “AIR”

Affleck has been open about picking up Spanish as a second language while working on a television series that shot in Mexico when he was a teenager.

Back in 2020, theOscarwinner visitedThe Kelly Clarkson Show, where he claimed to speak the language “passively” — and his oldest child, 17-year-oldViolet, was about tosurpass his fluency.

“She’s always been a very good student, and she’s been interested in Spanish, and so I would often help her,” Affleck explained on the talk series. “Now, all of a sudden, she’s gotten into the grade where she’s, like, in the harder Spanish classes, and she’s getting better.”

He added, “She’s right at the point whereI think she might be passing me.”

source: people.com