Ben Affleck looked tense as he smoked a cigarette on the Los Angeles set of his sixth feature directorial effort Animals on Wednesday.

The Berkeley-born, Cambridge-raised 52-year-old co-wrote, produces, directs, and stars as LA Mayoral candidate Milo Bradford in the upcoming Netflix hostage thriller.

Ben was surrounded by crew members during the night shoot for the film also starring Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington, and Steven Yeun.

In it, the son of Affleck’s character is held hostage and he only has a few hours to come up with the ransom.

The two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker previously helmed Gone Baby Gone (2007), The Town (2010), Argo (2012), Live by Night (2016), and Air (2023).

Ben Affleck looked tense as he smoked a cigarette on the Los Angeles set of his sixth feature directorial effort Animals on Wednesday

Ben famously embarked on a quarantine romance with Ana de Armas during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to January 2021, and she has now moved on with Tom Cruise.

At 62, the Scientologist movie star is 25 years older than the Cuban bombshell, but they’ve been publicly pictured together on six occasions with the most recent being in London’s Notting Hill last Saturday.

Ana had just attended David Beckham’s 50th birthday bash with Tom, who previously romanced Penélope Cruz from 2001-2004.

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Perhaps de Armas will join Cruise for an early screening of his film Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning in Cannes on May 14 or in Texas on May 23.

Cruise is set to return to the Cannes Film Festival with the premiere of Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning.

The star’s film will screen out of compeтιтion on May 14, with Tom and director Christopher McQuarrie, aged 56, in attendance, according to Variety.

It marks Tom’s third appearance at Cannes.

He first attended in 1992 for Far and Away and returned in 2022 for ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, during which he received an honorary Palme d’Or. ​

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning is the eighth and final instalment in the long-running spy franchise.

The Berkeley-born, Cambridge-raised 52-year-old co-wrote, produces, directs, and stars as LA Mayoral candidate Milo Bradford in the upcoming Netflix hostage thriller

Ben was surrounded by crew members during the night shoot for the film also starring Gillian Anderson, Kerry Washington, and Steven Yeun

Affleck famously embarked on a quarantine romance with Ana de Armas during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic from March 2020 to January 2021, and she has now moved on with Tom Cruise (M, pictured in 2013 with Ben, left, and Christoph Waltz, right)

Ana posted an Instastory with her gal pal on Thursday

It sees Tom reprise his role as Ethan Hunt, a character he has portrayed since the series’ inception in 1996.

Or perhaps the four-time Oscar nominee will join the Oscar nominee at the premiere of From the World of John Wick: Ballerina – hitting US theaters June 6 and UK theaters June 7 – in which she plays ᴀssᴀssin Eve Macarro.

Meanwhile, Affleck executive produced Bill Condon’s $30M-budget remake of West End musical Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring his second ex-wife Jennifer Lopez, which hits US theaters October 10.

The Artists Equity co-founder and his BFF Matt Damon star in Joe Carnahan’s Miami-set crime drama RIP, which premieres this November on Netflix.

Ben’s last released film The Accountant 2 only earned $68.4M back from its $80M budget at the global box office.

On the personal front, Affleck has three children – Violet, 19; Fin, 16; and Samuel, 13 – from his decade-long marriage to his former Daredevil leading lady Jennifer Garner, which ended in 2018.