The actor was photographed shirtless on a beach while filming for a new movie project, which revealed an enormous tattoo of a phoenix on his back. Three years ago, when the tattoo was first glimpsed, Affleck explained it was for a role.
"[It's] fake for a movie," he said. "I actually do have a number of tattoos but I try to have them in places where you don't have to do a lot of cover-up. They get sort of addictive, tattoos, after a while."
Then, Affleck was spotted last week on a beach with "Triple Frontier" co-stars Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, and Garrett Hedlund. And the "fake" tattoo turned out to be very real.
Ben Affleck's hilarious giant back tattoo is a glorious gift to us all pic.twitter.com/hphG0Hl2gO
— Funny Or Die (@funnyordie) March 20, 2018
According to People, Affleck got the tattoo after his split from ex-wife Jennifer Garner. She, meanwhile, wasn't a fan of the look, telling Vanity Fair, "You know what we would say in my hometown about that? 'Bless his heart'" (a true Southern put-down."
She added, "A phoenix rising from the ashes. Am I the ashes in this scenario? I take umbrage."
Another of Affleck's famous exes, Jennifer Lopez, said, "It's awful!"
And of course, the internet just had a field day.
When you realize the back tattoo is real and Ben Affleck was lying when he said it was for a movie. 😲 pic.twitter.com/gsRk9cJGqB
— Anthony Dominic (@alloveranthony) March 18, 2018
Ben Affleck's back tattoo looks like it was ALSO directed by Zack Snyder pic.twitter.com/Nz3wK0bNZ7
— Chase Mitchell (@ChaseMit) March 19, 2018
"I want the equivalent of Gigli, but on my back." - Ben Affleck to his tattoo artist pic.twitter.com/NyDSlv29Rj
— Chris (@chrisforfree) March 19, 2018
Ben Affleck's back tattoo looks like it went to Guy Fieri's flavor town to try to get it's money back, and failed
— Boring Crazy (@boring_crazy) March 20, 2018