Ben Affleck No To Degrassi
November 26, 2004, 9:36:36 AFFLECK REJECTS TV CAMEO

BEN AFFLECK has turned down the chance to make a cameo appearance in Canadian TV show DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION, despite director pal KEVIN SMITH’s desperate attempts.

JERSEY GIRL director Smith will fulfil a life-long ambition when he appears in three episodes of the show, a spin-off of his favourite childhood programme DEGRASSI: JUNIOR HIGH, which ran from 1986-1991.

Smith has convinced Canadian singer ALANIS MORISSETTE – who starred in his 1999 film DOGMA – to make a cameo appearance and hoped Affleck would join them.

But the actor wants to stay out of the limelight following his split from JENNIFER LOPEZ and a succession of movie flops.

Smith explains, “Affleck, honestly, could use the work right now.

“What better way to reboot your career than starring in a Canadian melodrama?

“He was just like, ‘You know what, dude? I’m a little too high profile right now. I’m trying to scale back.’

“He was just feeling the burn. It’s been a bad f**king year for him, and he keeps getting the s**t kicked out of him. I’m not gonna add to this dude’s misery right now, where you know the episode would air and people would be like, ‘Affleck winds up in Canadian teen soap opera.’ And they’d somehow tie it into Jennifer Lopez.”