"I'm always described as 'cocksure' or 'with a swagger,' and that bears no resemblance to who I feel like inside. I feel plagued by insecurity"
About this Quote
The phrasing matters. “Always described” suggests a repeated, external verdict, the press and public insisting they know the inner man from the outer posture. “Bears no resemblance” is unusually blunt for an actor trained to soften edges in interviews; it’s a refusal of the brand. Then he pivots to “who I feel like inside,” a quiet admission that the real battleground is private, not paparazzi-facing. That split between image and interior is basically the celebrity condition, but Affleck sharpens it by choosing “plagued,” a word that frames insecurity as chronic and invasive, not a cute bout of self-doubt.
Context does the rest. Affleck has spent decades as a tabloid character and a prestige performer, applauded for control (as director, as leading man) while being narrativized through public mistakes and spectacle. The quote reads like an attempt to reclaim authorship over his own story: not to appear humble, but to explain the mechanics of the mask. Swagger, he implies, can be a defense mechanism with good lighting.
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Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Affleck, Ben. (2026, January 15). I'm always described as 'cocksure' or 'with a swagger,' and that bears no resemblance to who I feel like inside. I feel plagued by insecurity. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-always-described-as-cocksure-or-with-a-swagger-140315/
Chicago Style
Affleck, Ben. "I'm always described as 'cocksure' or 'with a swagger,' and that bears no resemblance to who I feel like inside. I feel plagued by insecurity." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-always-described-as-cocksure-or-with-a-swagger-140315/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I'm always described as 'cocksure' or 'with a swagger,' and that bears no resemblance to who I feel like inside. I feel plagued by insecurity." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/im-always-described-as-cocksure-or-with-a-swagger-140315/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.




