Ben Affleck recalls almost getting fired from Burger King spot

For a brief moment in 1989, Ben Affleck was the Burger King. But, as he confessed on The Drew Barrymore Show, he came close to losing that crown.

Drew Barrymore welcomed Affleck to the show on Friday by playing the vintage fast-food ad featuring the baby-faced future Oscar winner, much to the delight of the laughing, cheering audience.

"If I had known that the commercial would get this kind of response, I would have been much more optimistic about my career," Affleck joked. "I don't remember the similar enthusiasm at the time."

In fact, Affleck said, the director almost fired him: "And now I can see why."

The ad opens with Jeff, played by 17-year-old Affleck, dressed in his letter jacket and cruising in his car when a phone rings. (A phone in your car! In 1989! Viewers at the time were agog.) He picks it up to hear a young female voice on the other end ask, "Is this Burger King?"

A quick-thinking Jeff replies in the affirmative and agrees to bring her a chef's salad. One trip to the BK drive-thru later, and Jeff's winking at his reflection in the rear-view mirror before depositing the take-out bag on the girl's front porch.

But before they can make good on their meet-cute, the car phone rings again. It's Jeff's dad summoning him home. Affleck-as-Jeff looks ruefully at the camera over the tagline, "Sometimes you've gotta break the rules." (In a bold narrative twist, Jeff does not break the rules and forgoes his meeting with salad girl to obey his father.)

Affleck told Barrymore that he has a few memories of filming the ad.

"I remember the car guy, you know because it was a car in the commercial and I had to drive, and they're always worried about actors driving. I remember he asked me, 'Do you know how to drive, kid?'" Affleck recalled. "I was like, 'Yeah I know how to drive.' They were like, 'Are you sure?' I was like, 'Guys, I've driven five hundred or a thousand miles.'"

Affleck, who has made a name for himself as a director with films such as Argo, The Town, and this month's Michael Jordan flick Air, recalls being confused about the direction he received during the shoot.

"I also remember being like, 'I don't know why this director keeps making me do it over and over again,' and now looking at the performance, I have a better idea," he said.

To see greatness in the making, you can watch Affleck's Burger King commercial below.

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