CHETICAMP — Mike Gibbon says he did a double-take when he saw a customer that looked a dead ringer for Ben Affleck pumping fuel at a Cheticamp service station.
"I always take a look at who is at the pumps, and at about 9:30 last Thursday morning I saw a guy that I thought looked an awful lot like Ben Affleck, so I called my wife and said 'That guy looks way too much like Ben Affleck not to be him,'" said Gibbon, who manages Cormier's Service Station.
"When he came into the store, I knew right away that it was Ben Affleck. We're a long way from anywhere, so it's not every day that we see someone that well known."
Gibbon has released video footage of the brief encounter that was taken by the store's surveillance camera.
It shows a bearded man wearing a black tuque standing at the counter while purchasing a bottle of purple Gatorade.
The man doesn't make eye contact with Gibbon until asked if he was indeed Ben Affleck, at which point he confirmed his identity and the pair shook hands.
Following the transaction, the Hollywood A-lister from Boston pocketed his change, grabbed his drink and headed out the door.
Gibbon said it was obvious that Affleck was trying to keep a low profile.
"He looked like he didn't want to be recognized," he said.
There have not been any other sighting of the famous actor, but rumours have been swirling around the area as to what Affleck may have been doing in Cape Breton.
"I'm hearing all sorts of things — he was here to buy property, he was on a retreat at the Buddhist monastery, that he was in Halifax to support the film tax credit," said Gibbon, who admits to having enjoyed the attention surrounding the star-sighting.
"I wasn't star-struck — I knew it was Ben, I recognized him, I shook his hand and off he went," he said.
Affleck is best known for films such as "Good Will Hunting," "The Sum of All Fears" and "Argo."
He will next star in "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" as the caped crusader.
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Gibbon said it was obvious that Affleck was trying to keep a low profile. "He looked like he didn't want to be recognized," Then WHY release the video and alert the press.