Ben Affleck considered himself a 'serious actor' after gay kiss, according to Kevin Smith

The actor kissed co-star Jason Lee in Kevin Smith's 1997 indie hit Chasing Amy

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Ben Affleck reportedly considered himself a “serious actor” after kissing another man in the film Chasing Amy.

Director Kevin Smith was speaking at a 20th-anniversary screening of 1997 indie hit Chasing Amy at LGBTI festival Outfest in Los Angeles when he revealed that Affleck and co-star Jason Lee initially felt uneasy about their on-screen gay kiss.

According to Gay Star News, Smith recalled how Affleck said that “a man kissing another man is the greatest acting challenge an actor can ever face,” and that once cameras had stopped rolling, he stated, “now, I'm a serious actor.”

The film follows Affleck's comic book artist who falls in love with a lesbian (Joey Lauren Adams), much to the bother of his best friend (Jason Lee).

Attitude Magazine reports that Affleck, who expressed his support for marriage equality on Twitter in 2014 - revealed his unease at filming the scene back in 2017, telling Entertainment Tonight: “I’m not homophobic... I guess I am, more than I thought, in that, you know, it was just difficult for me, and I didn’t think it would be.”