Ben Kenobi! Affleck strongly hints he turned down the chance to direct Star Wars: The Force Awakens during THAT interview with HBO

Published: 20:32 EST, 23 June 2016 | Updated: 05:40 EST, 24 June 2016

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All attention may have been on his foul-mouthed Deflategate rant.

But Ben Affleck actually dropped something more shocking than an F-bomb on Wednesday night: he could have directed Star Wars.

The 43-year-old strongly hinted that he turned down the chance to helm The Force Awakens - the job which ultimately went to JJ Abrams.

Ben Kenobi: Affleck strongly hinted on Wednesday that he turned down the chance to direct Star Wars The Force Awakens

When Any Given Wednesday host Bill Simmons asked if the rumour was true, he replied: 'Well I wouldn't be able to say - It wouldn't be polite to talk about the jobs that you turned down but I had a lot of offers.'

He continued: 'It's sort of like forks in the road that are legitimate different paths. You think like "Boy, it's going to be really different if I went down this way."

'Or if I do Batman, or I do this other iconic thing.'

When the host chimed in: 'Or you could have just made kids movies',' he concluded 'Or I could just have movies where kids fart on me. Yeah.'

As good as confirmed: When Any Given Wednesday host Bill Simmons asked if the rumour was true, he replied: Well I wouldn't be able to say - It wouldn't be polite to talk about the jobs that you turned down but I had a lot of offers

F-bombs away: All attention was on his foul-mouthed Deflategate rant during another part of the interview

In November 2012, when the world knew another Star Wars movie was on the way but Abrams was himself just a rumoured director, Affleck said he was glad he didn't have the job.

'I’d be too busy worrying about how the action figures would look for each character to direct the actual movie,' he told MTV News at the time.

'I’d be like, "Oh, we’ll just reshoot the movie with the action figures."'

He said rumoured candidate Abrams 'would kill it, he would crush it' - but didn't envy him the task.

Blast from the past: In November 2012, when the world knew another Star Wars movie was on the way but Abrams was himself just a rumoured director, Affleck said he was glad he didn't have the job

Worked out in the end: He said rumoured candidate Abrams 'would kill it, he would crush it' - but didn't envy him the task

'You’re never going to be able to recapture the story that was the initial three, because it’s so legendary and iconic,' he added. 'I don’t know, I’m glad I don’t have that job. It’s a tough decision to make.'

One month earlier, Affleck had released the film that won him his second Oscar and first as a producer.

It told the true story of the US Government rescue during the 1981 Iranian hostage crisis under the cover of pretending to film a Star Wars-style sci-fi film called Argo.

After his praised performance as Bruce Wayne in Dawn Of Justice, Affleck expressed an interest in directing himself in a standalone Batman film.

Knockoff: In 2012 Afflect directed Argo, which told the true story of the US Government rescue during the 1981 Iranian hostage crisis under the cover of pretending to film a Star Wars-style sci-fi film called Argo