Ben Affleck has by no means shied away from reflecting on the highs and lows of his profession, however one awards-season second nonetheless stings.

Greater than a decade later, the actor-director is reopening the dialog concerning the Oscars 12 months that introduced him acclaim and humiliation on the identical time.

What adopted was an emotional curler coaster that few Hollywood stars ever expertise so publicly.

Showing on “Jimmy Kimmel Reside!” this week, Affleck, now 53, regarded again on the 2013 awards race surrounding “Argo,” the political thriller that in the end received Greatest Image.

Whereas the movie was showered with reward, Affleck himself was notably absent from the Greatest Director nominees.

“It was the 12 months, the horrible factor of everybody telling you, ‘You’re gonna get nominated, you’re gonna get nominated for director,’” Affleck informed host Jimmy Kimmel per the Every day Mail.

That expectation made the truth hit tougher when nominations have been introduced.

He added, “And so, in fact, I get up that morning, and certain sufficient – and, by the best way, it’s not [unlike] every other morning that I had not been nominated for Greatest Director – however abruptly, it’s a large embarrassment. I wakened and other people [said], ‘You didn’t get nominated.’”

The frustration didn’t finish with the announcement. Affleck recalled stepping right into a media frenzy later that day on the Critics Selection Awards, the place the snub grew to become the one subject anybody wished to debate.

“It appeared like there have been 500 individuals dying to speak to me,” he stated. “And each single one in every of them [said], ‘Hello. So, the snub. What do you say to that?’ ‘Ha, ha, ha, yeah. It’s a bummer.’”

The state of affairs was significantly awkward given the broader context.

That 12 months’s Greatest Director class included Ang Lee for “Lifetime of Pi,” Steven Spielberg for “Lincoln,” David O. Russell for “Silver Linings Playbook,” Michael Haneke for “Amour,” and Benh Zeitlin for “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

Lee in the end took dwelling the Oscar, whereas “Argo” continued its momentum elsewhere.

Regardless of the uncomfortable consideration, the night time took a stunning flip.

Affleck ended up successful Greatest Director for “Argo” on the Critics Selection Awards, beating Spielberg for “Lincoln” and Kathryn Bigelow for “Zero Darkish Thirty.”

“This damaging occasion turns right into a constructive,” Affleck stated, summing up the emotional whiplash of the night. The win helped soften the blow, however the Oscars omission remained a defining speaking level.

“Argo” would go on to obtain seven Academy Award nominations, together with Greatest Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin, Greatest Authentic Rating, Greatest Sound Mixing, and Greatest Sound Modifying. It received Greatest Modifying, Greatest Tailored Screenplay, and in the end Greatest Image, cementing its legacy regardless of the controversy.

Kimmel, nonetheless, wasn’t satisfied Affleck was absolutely acknowledging how brutal the second actually was. The late-night host pushed again, framing the snub as one of the vital weird awards eventualities in Hollywood historical past.

“That is possibly the worst award-show state of affairs ever. I believe you’re underselling this. As a result of Argo, not solely was it nominated for the Oscar for Greatest Image, you received Greatest Image. You starred in it and directed it, and you weren’t nominated in both class … it’s as if the film directed itself,” Kimmel stated.

Affleck didn’t argue. As an alternative, he admitted that he had “felt” precisely the identical means on the time, acknowledging how surreal the state of affairs actually was.