Culture 4 min read By Lauren Baxter
Ben Affleck Tells Los Angeles Voters Not to Write Him In for Mayor
Ben Affleck revealed he campaigned for mayor of Los Angeles in character as Mark Kimball from his Netflix film Animals, urging voters not to write him in as they cast their ballots.
Ben Affleck is making an unusual request of Los Angeles voters as they fill out their ballots: do not vote for him. The two-time Oscar winner revealed that he campaigned for mayor of Los Angeles in character as Mark Kimball, the politician he plays in the Netflix film Animals, which he co-wrote, directed and stars in.
Affleck said the campaign was part of his preparation for the role, an immersive approach to building a character who seeks public office. The result was a real-world performance that unfolded in front of Angelenos while they were deciding their actual mayoral race. His message to voters, delivered through the character, was blunt: «Do not vote for me.»
The disclosure arrives as Los Angeles voters are casting ballots in their mayoral election, making the timing of Affleck's confession both pointed and playful. A movie star who has spent decades in the public eye used his fame to campaign for an office he never intended to hold, then asked the public not to take the exercise seriously at the ballot box.
Animals marks Affleck's sixth outing as a director. The film is a kidnapping thriller that pairs an all-star cast with a nasty, compulsive tone, and it is being released directly to Netflix rather than through a traditional theatrical rollout. Critics have noted that the streaming release suits a slick, pacy piece of pulp that would still hold attention in a multiplex, even if it does not need one.
The project returns Affleck to the director's chair and to the kind of politically charged material he has handled before. His 2012 film Argo, a political drama, won the Best Picture Oscar, a high point in a career that has moved between blockbuster acting roles and behind-the-camera work. Animals gives him a different register: a dark thriller rather than a historical drama, with a lead character whose mayoral ambitions became a real-life experiment in method performance.
For Los Angeles, the story lands in the middle of an election season in which celebrity, politics and performance frequently overlap. Affleck's character campaign adds a layer of meta-commentary to a race already saturated with media attention. By campaigning as Mark Kimball and then telling voters not to support him, Affleck turned his preparation into a public statement about the difference between a role and a real candidacy.
The actor's reveal also underscores how streaming-era promotion can blur the line between marketing and performance. A film about a politician became a live political stunt in the city where the election was happening, and the stunt was disclosed only as voters were already marking their ballots. Whether Angelenos found it funny, confusing or both, Affleck's message was unambiguous: the man asking for their vote was not actually running.
Animals is now available on Netflix, with Affleck credited as co-writer, director and star. The film's release and his mayoral confession arrive together, tying the movie's political themes to a real election in his hometown. For a city that has long treated entertainment and governance as adjacent industries, the episode is a reminder that in Los Angeles, even a fake campaign can become part of the real conversation.
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