Ben Affleck is not interested in playing a protagonist and instead, he is keen to play more supporting roles similar to what he portrayed in his latest release "The Last Duel."

The 49-year-old actor explained that when someone is playing a protagonist, they have many restrictions and want the audience to connect with them, otherwise, the filmmakers might lose millions.

"When you're the protagonist, you have to do this and you can't do that and there's a certain essential virtuousness that has to be present or people think, 'Well, the audience will lose their ability to identify with this person, and then we'll lose $100 million,'" he told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday.

Affleck said he would love to play characters with more shades rather than having the burden of playing a protagonist. He noted that such side characters can be flawed, interesting and more complicated.

"The similarity, for me, is playing parts in films where I'm not the protagonist, whether it was 'Good Will Hunting,' 'Shakespeare in Love,' 'The Last Duel' or [The Tender Bar] where I get to be somebody on the side who is allowed to be more complicated, flawed and interesting," he explained.

Affleck's comments came after "The Last Duel" underperformed at the box office. The actor said the movie is doing good on streaming platforms. The movie is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Vudu.

"It wasn't one of those films that you say, 'Oh boy, I wish my movie had worked.' Instead, this is more due to a seismic shift that I'm seeing, and I'm having this conversation with every single person I know," he added.

The actor noted that people are now more interested in pausing the content in between, taking a break in between and finishing it the next day rather than going to a movie theater.

Affleck will be next seen in the drama "The Tender Bar," which revolves around a 9-year-old boy (played by Daniel Ranieri) who finds a father figure in Affleck's character Charlie. The movie is releasing Friday.

It is directed by George Clooney and it is based on author J. R. Moehringer's book, titled "The Tender Bar: A Memoir," which was published in 2005.

Ben Affleck stars in "The Tender Bar" as a bartender who steps in to help raise his fiercely intelligent nephew after the boy is abandoned by his famous radio DJ dad
Ben Affleck stars in "The Tender Bar" as a bartender who steps in to help raise his fiercely intelligent nephew after the boy is abandoned by his famous radio DJ dad GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA via AFP / Amy Sussman
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