You Might Enjoy: Street You Grew Up On

Kerry Washington (0:00)

Welcome to The Street You Grew Up On. If you've been riding with us for multiple seasons, welcome back. And if you're new here, welcome. We are so happy to have you. My production company, Simpson Street, is called that because it's the street my mother grew up on in the Bronx. And in a lot of ways, it's where my journey begins. So a few years ago, I started to ask my friends and people I admire about the streets they grew up on and about their origin stories. We're so proud and excited to bring this show to you now not only as a digital series, but as a podcast too. So our first guest is an actor, a producer, a director. Basically, he's a beast or an animal.

See what I did there? He's my co-star in the movie Animals and our director, Ben Affleck. Ben very famously grew up in Boston and we talk all about what it was like for him growing up, the friends he played with. Yes, he actually did have friends other than Matt Damon and how much he admired his beautiful mother. We also talk about the diversity in his neighborhood and how it's affected his work as an actor and a director, and it even comes into play in our new movie, Animals. So come pull up.

So I like to talk to people that I really respect and admire about the street they grew up on or you.

Ben Affleck (1:27)

Good. I was going to say, I hope this isn't going to be weird. Are you doing this or are you going to talk show, persona, person?

Kerry Washington (1:33)

I'm going to try to be myself, but still be kind.

Okay. So tell me the name of the street that you grew up on.

Ben Affleck (1:42)

Cottage Street.

Kerry Washington (1:43)

Cottage Street. In?

Ben Affleck (1:45)

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, in a part of it called Central Square, which is Cambridgeport was the neighborhood. Cambridge was, I think because of the universities, like MIT and Harvard were there.

So it encapsulated basically that and the city is kind of divided. At least when I grew up in the part that was east of Harvard and where that was, between that and MIT was the sort of like working class, kind of the people that ran the city, right?

Kerry Washington (2:17)

Then they worked at the universities.

Ben Affleck (2:19)

Then the west part of it was like if you got west of Harvard Square, that's where all the old sort of like-

Kerry Washington (2:25)

Professors.

Ben Affleck (2:26)

Yeah, Brattle Street, Mount Wilbur. It was all this like, those are the sort of state. Yeah, that was the college professors would live, and that's where Harvard extended up to, like Radcliffe was sort of up there. So it was really two cities. There was kind of a definitely like, I guess town and gown kind of a thing to it.

Kerry Washington (2:48)

When you think about Cottage Street, like if you take a moment to be back on Cottage Street, what's the first thing that comes to mind?

Ben Affleck (3:00)

I feel like I'm in like therapy. I feel like I have to be honest because it's you.

Kerry Washington (3:05)

You do have to be honest.

Ben Affleck (3:06)

What am I, do I just make some shit up?

Kerry Washington (3:07)

No, you have to be honest.

Ben Affleck (3:10)

For our listeners, be honest. I have like mixed memories, you know what I mean? There was part of it that was like, you were kind of on your own in our generation. You know what I mean?

Kerry Washington (3:20)

I've heard you describe yourself as a latchkey kid. I was a latchkey kid. Did you actually wear your key on your neck?

Ben Affleck (3:26)

I actually literally had a rope with a key that I wore on my neck because I was walking home from school about a mile through the city, you know, in like third grade, I started walking home. So now you end, yeah, you know, I was nine years old.

Kerry Washington (3:42)

With your brother? Cause you had a little brother.

Ben Affleck (3:44)

My brother at that time was not even in elementary school. He would have been in kindergarten. So yeah, he kind of still is.

That's why I look at the audience and I'm kidding.

Kerry Washington (3:57)

Just kidding.

I actually, for the audience, went to college with your little brother for a little bit at GW. And he was like, my brother Ben's making big moves. I was like, whatever.

Ben Affleck (4:09)

But then you did.