Ben Affleck's 'Morally Dubious' Role

Ben Affleck loved playing a "morally dubious" character in 'The Town'.

The actor-and-director plays long-time thief Doug MacRay in the crime drama, and admits he relished the role as it was something he has never had the chance to do before.

He said: "To be honest, for one thing I wanted that part.

"It's the kind of part I haven't really had a chance to play; he's morally ambiguous and he's obviously not doing the right thing all the time, but he's trying to change in a community where introspection of any kind is not particularly welcome."

Ben also admits he didn't have a problem directing himself in the movie - which is based on a series of bank robberies that took place in Boston in the mid-1990s.

He told the Irish Independent: "For me, the direction really happens in the editing room: I shoot enough to give myself a broad range of choices, and then pull the whole thing together afterwards.

"And in my cast, it's not that hard because I hate so much of it that I throw most of it out and there's very little left!"

'The Town', which also stars Blake Lively, Rebecca Hall and Jeremy Renner, is released worldwide throughout September and October.