Ben Affleck Talks Movie 'Live By Night' and the 'American Quality' of Gangster Films

The movie also stars Zoe Saldana.

Ben Affleck is a triple threat in his latest film Live By Night – the Oscar winner wrote, directed, and stars in the Prohibition-era gangster flick.

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It is Affleck’s fourth stint as a director and Live By Night is his first film since he took home a "Best Picture" Oscar for Argo in 2013.

For his newest venture, Affleck's script has a little bit of everything.

“Gangster films have a specific American quality to them,” Affleck told Inside Edition. “They are about ambition, morality, getting ahead, pulling yourself up by your boot straps."

And who best to play the lead?

"Ben the director keeps wanting to hire Ben the actor, that is all," he joked.

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Zoe Saldana, who plays Affleck’s love interest in the film, told Inside Edition that her character isn't true to the title.

"She is making a conscious decision to live in a kind of redeemable manner," Saldana said.

Live By Night is currently in theaters.

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