Affleck, Damon Auditioned for Robin in Burton's Batman

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Ben Affleck & Matt Damon Auditioned to Play Robin in Tim Burton's Batman

By Anthony Couto

Published Nov 14, 2017

In a recent interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Justice League star Ben Affleck reveals he and Matt Damon auditioned for Robin in the '89 Batman film.

The 1989 Batman film, of course, didn't feature a Robin, But, at one point early in pre-production, director Tim Burton certainly considered having the young Boy Wonder appear in the film. And, it turns out, he had teenaged Matt Damon and Ben Affleck audition for the part.

Affleck provided this shocking revelation in a recent interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, promoting his role in Justice League, which opens in theaters November 17 nationwide. Kimmel asked Affleck about his early days as an actor, auditioning alongside his longtime friend and collaborator Matt Damon. This spurred a certain Robin-related revelation that wasn't publicly known, until now.

Affleck recounted, "The best [audition] -- and the one that in retrospect hurts me to this day -- [Damon and I] weren’t sure what it was because they told us it was a secret project. And so...they gave us what was a dummy, generic scene, about a kid who wanted to race BMXs, or something."

"We go down there," Affleck continued, "when we get into the room they tell us, 'we didn’t want anyone to know about this and you need to keep it a secret, but this is actually an audition for…Tim Burton is making a movie about Batman, and this is for Robin.’"

He concluded, "So we both auditioned for Robin, and we were both pretty sure we got the part."

Teasing Damon, as he usually does, Kimmel made a reference to the Oscar-winner's cameo in Thor: Ragnarok, suggesting it's a sad turn of events for the A-list actor. “That’s so sad though, that in a way, you went on to be Batman," Kimmel teased, "not only he didn’t get to be Robin, but he’s, like, begging for little bit parts in Thor.”

Check out the full exchange in the interview clip below.

Justice League hits theaters on Nov. 17 and stars Ben Affleck as Batman, Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Ezra Miller as The Flash, Ray Fisher as Cyborg, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Ciarán Hinds as Steppenwolf, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon.