EXCLUSIVE: Ben Affleck Opens Up About His Chilling, Unexpected New Role in 'The Accountant'

Ben Affleck goes from superhero to CPA in his new movie, The Accountant, and ET is the first to take you to the set of the crime thriller.

In the movie, Affleck plays freelance accountant Christian Wolff, who has more affinity for numbers than people. Behind the cover of a small-town CPA office, Wolff cooks and uncooks the books for some of the world's most dangerous criminal organizations, but when the Treasury Department's Crime Enforcement Division, run by Ray King (J.K. Simmons), starts to close in on him, the body count starts to rise.

WATCH: Ben Affleck Is a Genius Up to No Good in 'The Accountant' Trailer

Affleck's new role, which Simmons described to Jimmy Kimmel as "almost more badass than Batman," is a departure for the Oscar winner, and he explained what attracted him to the project.

"I thought this was something that was really original, which is a rare thing," Affleck says in a behind-the-scenes clip. "This seemed to have genuine unique elements and to be genuinely surprising."

Part of the surprise seems to be just who Wolff really is.

"He's easy to pigeonhole as someone who's limited, someone who's less-than, and in fact we find out that he's capable of so many things," Affleck says. "Really it's a movie about how he has to reconcile his past with who he is now."

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Anna Kendrick plays Affleck's female counterpart in the movie, as a young clerk who catches on to Wolff's dealings, but her role is also non-traditional.

"In a normal movie, she'd be the romantic lead, but my character's not really a guy that's capable of having a romantic life," Affleck says. "But they do have a connection over this job, the mathematics and the danger they both find themselves in."

The Accountant opens Oct. 14.

Ben Affleck Is a Genius Up to No Good in 'The Accountant' Trailer

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