Affleck's New Passion: The Sudan

BEN AFFLECK is taking up a new cause, the African country Sudan. The Oscar-winning actor appeared on CNN Thursday night talking about his trip to the troubled nation and why he decided to take an interest.

"I got really interested in southern Sudan for a number of reasons," he said. "I think it's a fascinating place going through some really hard times."

But he says he didn't want to just be another celebrity mouthpiece. "I wanted to really feel like I understood the place and learn as much as I could about it, before I got into trying to be an advocate and kind of running my mouth about it," he said. "I got into doing some learning, talking to experts, traveling there."

But from GEORGE CLOONEY to DON CHEADLE, Affleck is not the first A-lister to get socially active, which is something he says people should be wary of.

"I think it's probably a healthy thing to keep that level of cynicism about celebrities who get involved with things," he says. "[But] it's largely irrelevant what one thinks of me," he said. "I could be vain and self-aggrandizing, but it's totally irrelevant to what I've pointed the camera at, showing you something that is completely honest, which is that this situation and this potential civil war here demands attention regardless of what you think about me."

Published 5/23/08 by