Photo: Eric McCandless/Disney/ABC
On Wednesday night, a dialed-in Ben Affleck wrapped up a victorious run on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, where he and Jeopardy! champion Jamie Ding won — you guessed it — $1 million. Have you ever seen Affleck make a more excited face?
The 15th and final question had to do with the names of turkeys pardoned by a U.S. president as part of an annual Thanksgiving tradition. With a little nudge from host Jimmy Kimmel, Affleck and Ding agreed on a guess, and, after an excruciating pause, the board went green, and the men leapt into each other’s arms and whooped.
Kimmel then presented Affleck and Ding with a giant check, and confetti fell down around them. At the top of the episode, Affleck explained that the big prize would go to his foundation, the Eastern Congo Initiative, which supports community-based organizations in a region that’s been “severely impacted by a very traumatic war.”
Affleck’s victory comes a year after his brother in life and moviemaking, Matt Damon, won the same prize. Damon, who appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire last year with Ken Jennings, is one of the few celebrity contestants to win. Kimmel also teased Affleck throughout Wednesday’s episode, joking in between consecutive guesses that he was “so much smarter than Matt.”
I’m glad to see the crowned king of Dunkin’ smiling again, especially for a good cause. Now, if we could just get J.Lo on the line …
