Ben Affleck is "tempted" to take on an acting role in the new movie he is making with best friend Matt Damon, but fears playing a corrupt federal agent will make him unpopular in his hometown.

The Good Will Hunting collaborators have signed up to work together on the new film, about Boston-based crime lord Whitey Bulger, with Affleck directing the project and Damon taking on the lead role.
 
Affleck admits he would like to step in front of the camera too, to play corrupt Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent John Connolly, but he is worried the role will make him unpopular in his native Boston, Massachusetts.
 
He tells the Boston Herald, "If there was a movie that me and Matt were meant to do together, this has gotta be the one. It's where my heart is, but there's a lot of stuff, and we're trying to cull it and we're probably twice as careful about this one because we know the degree of scrutiny that people are going to have - particularly in Boston...
 
"Connolly's such a great part, but he just makes me sick. With Whitey, at least you know he's a gangster, he's a criminal, he got people killed... it was no secret. But the FBI and Connolly in particular were the ones making sure he didn't get arrested and allowing more people to get killed and exploited and abused.
 
"I'm tempted to do Connolly. But I don't know... I feel like I could never show my face again in Boston."