Casey Affleck#Sexual harassment allegations

Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2sg3CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA132 |title=Finding Your Roots, Season 2: The Official Companion to the PBS Series |last=Gates |first=Henry Louis Jr. |date=January 28, 2016|publisher=UNC Press Books |isbn=978-1-4696-2619-2 |language=en}} was born on August 12, 1975, in Falmouth, Massachusetts, to Christine Anne "Chris" Boldt and Timothy Byers Affleck.{{cite web |url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/casey-affleck/143690/ |title=Casey Affleck |work=TV Guide |access-date=March 16, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150912092738/http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/casey-affleck/143690/ |archive-date=September 12, 2015 |url-status=live}}{{Cite news|title=Tidbits, One Ringtailed |url=http://harvardmagazine.com/2010/03/tidbits-one-ringtailed |work=Harvard Magazine |access-date=April 11, 2017 |date=March 1, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170702140941/http://harvardmagazine.com/2010/03/tidbits-one-ringtailed |archive-date=July 2, 2017}}Stated on Finding Your Roots, PBS, October 14, 2014. The surname "Affleck" is of Scottish origin.{{cite news |url=https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/lkl/date/2004-03-16/segment/00 |title=Larry King Live transcript |publisher=CNN |date=March 16, 2004 |access-date=August 27, 2014}} He also has Irish,{{cite web |url=http://www.movies.ie/ben-affleck-interview-for-the-town/ |title=Ben Affleck Interview for The Town – Interviews |date=September 24, 2010 |publisher=Movies.ie |access-date=August 27, 2014}}{{cite web |url=http://www.eventguide.ie/articles.elive?session_id=11696590572785496&sku=070122142932 |title=Film Interview – Ben Affleck / 'Hollywoodland' |publisher=Event Guide |access-date=September 22, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928004637/http://www.eventguide.ie/articles.elive?session_id=11696590572785496&sku=070122142932 |archive-date=September 28, 2007 |url-status=dead }} German,{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/largest-ethnic-groups-in-america-2013-8 |title=The Largest Ancestry Groups in the United States|publisher=Business Insider |date=August 13, 2013 |access-date=March 27, 2015 |first1=Liz |first2=Gus |first3=Dina |last1=O'Connor |last2=Lubin |last3=Spector}} English, and Swedish ancestry.Stated on Inside the Actors Studio, 2001{{full citation needed |date=November 2017|reason=not possible to tell what this was supposed to verify}} Affleck's maternal great-great-grandfather, {{lang|de|Heinrich Boldt|italic=no}}, known for the discovery of the Curmsun Disc, emigrated from Prussia in the late 1840s.{{cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/9647410 |title=A unique object from Harald Bluetooth's time |first=Sven |last=Rosborn |publisher=Academia |date=April 23, 2015 |access-date=January 10, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201085538/http://www.academia.edu/9647410/A_unique_object_from_Harald_Bluetooth_s_time._2015_ |archive-date=February 1, 2017 }}{{cite news |url=https://dziendobry.tvn.pl/wideo,2064,n/skarb-zwiazany-z-rodzina-afflecka-w-rekach-polaka,234066.html |title=A treasure associated with Ben Affleck in the hands of a Polish family |publisher=TVN News |date=January 10, 2018 |access-date=January 10, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109235431/https://dziendobry.tvn.pl/wideo,2064,n/skarb-zwiazany-z-rodzina-afflecka-w-rekach-polaka,234066.html |archive-date=January 9, 2018 }} His mother was a Radcliffe College- and Harvard-educated elementary school teacher. His father worked sporadically as an auto mechanic,[http://viewaskew.com/chasingamy/benview.html Cinezine – Frank Discussions With Ben Affleck]. Viewaskew.com. Retrieved June 5, 2014.{{cite news |url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2010/09/15/with_new_film_affleck_ties_boston_knot_tighter/ |title=With new film, Affleck ties Boston knot tighter|work=The Boston Globe |access-date=April 19, 2022|first=Wesley |last=Morris |date=September 15, 2010}} a carpenter,{{cite web |url=http://www.oocities.org/affleck1971/playboy.html |title=December '99-Playboy: Interview with Ben Affleck|publisher=Oocities |access-date=January 1, 2017}} a bookie,{{cite news |url=http://playboysfw.kinja.com/ben-affleck-on-argo-his-distaste-for-politics-and-the-1508624335 |title=Ben Affleck on Argo, His Distaste For Politics and the Batman Backlash |first=Michael |last=Fleming |date=January 27, 2014 |work=Playboy |access-date=June 5, 2014 |archive-date=July 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140702140423/http://playboysfw.kinja.com/ben-affleck-on-argo-his-distaste-for-politics-and-the-1508624335 |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |last1=O'neill |first1=Anne-marie |title=Reality Check |url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-reality-check-vol-56-no-8/ |website=People |access-date=April 19, 2022 |date=August 20, 2001}} an electrician,{{cite news |last=Schneider |first=Karen S. |date=February 21, 2000 |url=https://people.com/archive/cover-story-good-time-hunting-vol-53-no-7/ |title=Good Time Hunting |work=People |access-date=April 19, 2022}} a bartender,Atkinson, Kim. (May 15, 2006) [http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/05/the-other-affleck/ The Other Affleck] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170228044621/http://www.bostonmagazine.com/2006/05/the-other-affleck/ |date=February 28, 2017 }}. Boston. Retrieved June 5, 2014. and a janitor at Harvard University.[http://tomshone.blogspot.ie/2011/01/how-good-will-hunting-got-its-ending.html These Violent Delights: Malick gave Good Will Hunting its ending]. Tomshone.blogspot.ie (January 5, 2011). Retrieved June 5, 2014. In the mid-1960s, he had been a stage manager, director, writer and actor with the Theater Company of Boston.{{cite web |url=http://www.actorsequity.org/Newsmedia/news2012/jan17.DavidWheeler.asp |title=David Wheeler, Father Of The Boston Theatre Scene |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527214431/http://www.actorsequity.org/Newsmedia/news2012/jan17.DavidWheeler.asp |archive-date=May 27, 2014 |work=Actors' Equity Association |date=January 27, 2012 |access-date=June 5, 2014 |first=Donna |last=Sorbello}}{{cite web |url=http://www.larrybryggman.com/ob1.htm |title=Performances{{!}}Off-Broadway |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304030937/http://www.larrybryggman.com/ob1.htm |archive-date=March 4, 2016 |work=Larrybryggman.com |url-status=usurped |access-date=June 5, 2014}}{{cite web |last1=Weil |first1=Andrew |title=The Cocktail Party |url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1964/8/19/the-cocktail-party-pthe-theatre-company/ |website=The Harvard Crimson |access-date=April 19, 2022 |date=August 19, 1964}} During Affleck's childhood, his father was "a disaster of a drinker".{{cite news |url=http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episode-767-casey-affleck/ |title=Episode 767 – Casey Affleck |newspaper=WTF with Marc Maron Podcast |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Affleck first started acting by "reenacting what was happening at home" during role play exercises at Alateen meetings.{{cite news |url=https://ew.com/movies/2017/02/06/casey-affleck-acceptance-speech-santa-barbara-film-festival/ |title=Watch Casey Affleck's Heartfelt Speech at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival |date=February 6, 2017 |newspaper=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=February 19, 2017 }}

After his parents divorced when he was nine, Affleck and his older brother, Ben, lived with their mother and visited their father weekly. He learned to speak Spanish during a year spent traveling around Mexico with his mother and brother when he was ten.{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3673779/Casey-Afflecks-time-to-shine.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3673779/Casey-Afflecks-time-to-shine.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Casey Affleck's time to shine |last=Garratt |first=Sheryl |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=January 1, 2017}}{{cbignore}} At the time, his brother Ben was filming The Second Voyage of the Mimi, which was set in Mexico. The two brothers spent "all of our time together, pretty much. Obviously at school we were in different grades, but we had the same friends." When Affleck was fourteen, his father moved to Indio, California, to enter a rehabilitation facility, and later worked there as an addiction counselor.{{cite news |last=McGinty |first=Kate |date=January 5, 2013 |url=http://blogs.mydesert.com/2013/01/05/palm-springs-film-festival-ben-affleck-spit-on-me/ |title=Palm Springs film festival: Ben Affleck spit on me |newspaper=MyDesert |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140527215548/http://blogs.mydesert.com/2013/01/05/palm-springs-film-festival-ben-affleck-spit-on-me/ |archive-date=May 27, 2014 |access-date=June 5, 2014 |publisher=Gannett}}{{cite magazine |last1=Dunn |first1=Jancee |title=Ben Affleck's Hollywood Ending |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/ben-afflecks-hollywood-ending-200904/ |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=April 19, 2022 |date=April 1, 2004|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160110004051/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/ben-afflecks-hollywood-ending-20040401?page=2 |archive-date=January 10, 2016}}{{cite web |last1=Brodie |first1=John |title=That Was Ben, This Is Now |url=https://www.angelfire.com/biz6/athena2/interviews/gq0501.html |website=Angelfire |access-date=April 19, 2022 |date=May 2001}} He reconnected with his father during visits to California as a teenager: "I got to know him, really, because he was sober for the first time ... The man I knew before that was just completely different."{{cite news |url=https://www.npr.org/2016/11/17/502418270/casey-affleck-at-first-acting-was-nothing-more-than-a-day-off-from-school |title=Casey Affleck: At First, Acting Was 'Nothing More Than A Day Off From School'|publisher=NPR |access-date=April 19, 2022 |date=November 17, 2016}}

Growing up in a politically active, liberal household in Central Square, Cambridge,{{cite web |url=http://www.salon.com/2000/11/08/reacts_ny |title=Ben Affleck: "I hope Nader can still sleep"|work=Salon |first=Amy |last=Reiter |date=November 8, 2000 |access-date=August 27, 2014}} Affleck and his brother were surrounded by people who worked in the arts,"Ben Affleck on stardom, settling down, and working with best buddy Matt Damon" By Sheryl Berk for Biography magazine (July 2002) were regularly taken to the theater by their mother,{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Sheila |title=Casey Affleck Talks Ain't Them Bodies Saints, I'm Still Here, and More |url=https://collider.com/casey-affleck-aint-them-bodies-saints-interview/ |website=Collider |access-date=April 19, 2022 |date=August 13, 2013}} and were encouraged to make their own home movies.{{cite web |url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/12/02/casey-affleck-star-of-out-of-the-furnace-on-his-hollywood-struggles.html |title=Casey Affleck, Star of 'Out of the Furnace', on His Hollywood Struggles |last=Stern |first=Marlow |date=December 2, 2013 |website=The Daily Beast |access-date=January 1, 2017}} The brothers sometimes appeared in local weather commercials and as film extras because of their mother's friendship with a local casting director.[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101602302.html Bond of Brothers], The Washington Post; retrieved June 5, 2014. Affleck acted in numerous high school theater productions while a student at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School.{{cite web |url=https://www.today.com/id/wbna23279884 |title=Casey Affleck is teacher's 3rd Oscar nominee|date=February 21, 2008 |publisher=TODAY|access-date=April 19, 2022}} He has said he "wouldn't be an actor" if not for his high school theater teacher Gerry Speca: "He kind of turned me on to acting, why it can be fun, how it can be rewarding."

At age eighteen, Affleck moved to Los Angeles for a year to pursue an acting career, and lived with his brother and their childhood friend Matt Damon.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/24/magazine/casey-affleck-should-be-more-famous.html |title=Casey Affleck Should Be More Famous |last=Lincoln |first=Kevin |date=November 21, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Despite having "the best possible first experience" while filming To Die For,{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/awards-chatter-podcast-casey-affleck-935376/ |title='Awards Chatter' Podcast — Casey Affleck ('Manchester by the Sea') |newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=April 19, 2022 |date=October 6, 2016 |first=Scott |last=Feinberg}} he spent much of the year working as a busboy at a restaurant in Pasadena. He decided to move to Washington, D.C., to study politics at George Washington University. He soon transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he followed the Core Curriculum for a total of two years.{{cite web |url=http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxx/2000.11.16/features/exclusive.html |title=One-on-one with Casey Affleck |date=November 16, 2000|work=The Yale Herald |first=Elisabeth |last=Marshall |access-date=January 1, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306033643/http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxx/2000.11.16/features/exclusive.html |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://www.indexmagazine.com/interviews/casey_affleck.shtml |title=Casey Affleck, 1998|publisher=indexmagazine.com |access-date=January 1, 2017|year=1998 |first=Rebecca |last=Godfrey|work=Index Magazine}}{{Cite web|title=Columbia Spectator 9 March 1998 — Columbia Spectator|url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19980309-01.2.9&srpos=10&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-Casey+Affleck------|access-date=September 5, 2021|website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}} However, he did not graduate: "I would do a semester of school, go do a movie ... Opportunities kept presenting themselves that were hard for me to turn down ... By then, I didn't really have roots at the school or a group of friends."

Affleck acted professionally during his childhood due to his mother's friendship with a Cambridge-area casting director, Patty Collinge. In addition to local weather commercials and film extra work,{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=502418270 |title=Casey Affleck Interview: Star Of Manchester By The Sea Talks About Being An Extra, Acting, Family|publisher=NPR |date=November 17, 2016 |access-date=January 25, 2017}} he appeared as Kevin Bacon's brother in the PBS television film Lemon Sky (1988), directed by Collinge's husband Jan Egleson, and as a young Robert F. Kennedy in the ABC miniseries The Kennedys of Massachusetts (1990).{{cite news |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/2816736/casey-affleck-american-playhouse-lemon-sky |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220081239/http://www.mtv.com/news/2816736/casey-affleck-american-playhouse-lemon-sky/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 20, 2016 |title=Before They Were Famous: Casey Affleck in '80s TV Show|publisher=MTV News |access-date=January 1, 2017}} These early acting experiences "meant nothing more than a day off from school" to Affleck, and he only began to consider a career as an actor when in high school. When he later moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career in earnest, his first film role was as a sociopathic teenager in Gus Van Sant's 1995 satirical comedy To Die For. During filming in Toronto, Affleck shared an apartment with co-star Joaquin Phoenix and they became close friends. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised Affleck's performance, saying he "skillfully capture[s] the pang of adolescence among no-hopers."{{cite news |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/to-die-for-114561/ |title=To Die For |newspaper=Rolling Stone |access-date=April 19, 2022 |first=Peter |last=Travers |date=October 6, 1995}}{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2007/scene/markets-festivals/casey-affleck-2-1117974394 |title=Casey Affleck – Breakthrough Actor|work=Variety |date=October 19, 2007 |access-date=August 21, 2017 |first=Stephen |last=Schaefer}} However, Affleck then had a "disappointing" experience while making the 1996 drama Race the Sun and, "as soon as the film finished, I went to school."

While studying at Columbia, Affleck had a supporting role in Van Sant's Good Will Hunting (1997), written by his brother and their childhood friend Matt Damon. Despite arranging a first meeting between Van Sant and his brother to discuss the project, Affleck was reluctant to leave college temporarily to act in the film. He was eventually persuaded to play one of four friends living in South Boston – a role written specifically for him – and improvised many of his lines.{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/gus-van-sant-casey-affleck-to-die-for-good-will-hunting-1201892669/ |title=Gus Van Sant on Making 'To Die For' and 'Good Will Hunting' With Casey Affleck |last=Setoodeh |first=Ramin |date=October 18, 2016 |newspaper=Variety |access-date=January 1, 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/good-will-hunting-facts_n_7126534 |title=7 Things You May Not Know About 'Good Will Hunting' |last=Blickley |first=Leigh |date=April 24, 2015 |website=HuffPost |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Jay Carr of The Boston Globe praised the "emotional subtleties and variety" of the performances, and singled out "Casey Affleck's junior member of the quartet, dying to be taken as seriously as the others."{{cite web |url=http://cache.boston.com/globe/living/moviereviews/carr_reviews/Good_Will_Hunting.htm |title='Will' has its way |last=Carr |first=Jay|work=The Boston Globe |access-date=April 19, 2022 |date=December 25, 1997}} Following the film's success, Affleck's career opportunities did not significantly improve. At the same time, his life became exposed to the public and parts of his life became "part of pop culture and public life." Also in 1997, he had a small role in Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy, starring his brother. He returned to university for a semester before quitting to focus on his acting career.

Affleck's career entered a "dark" period, with a series of supporting roles in critical and commercial failures. He later remarked: "It dawned on me late that I should be selective about what I do." In the independent comedy Desert Blue (1998), he starred opposite Kate Hudson as a small-town jock.{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/1998/film/reviews/desert-blue-1200455133 |title=Review: 'Desert Blue' |last=Lovell |first=Glenn |date=September 18, 1998 |newspaper=Variety |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle felt that, while "interesting", his character was "entirely underdeveloped".{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Desert-Blue-Wanders-Aimlessly-Film-has-good-2923603.php |title='Desert Blue' Wanders Aimlessly/Film has good cast but lacks focus |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=January 1, 2017 |date=June 18, 1999 |first=Peter |last=Stack}} In 1999, he made an uncredited appearance in the teen comedy American Pie{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2012/04/from-the-wire-remembering-american-pie-130084 |title=From the Wire: Remembering 'American Pie' |last=Singer |first=Matt |date=April 4, 2012|work=IndieWire |access-date=January 1, 2017}} and appeared as a punk rocker romantically involved with both Gaby Hoffmann and Christina Ricci's characters in the New Year's Eve ensemble comedy 200 Cigarettes.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/02/26/movies/film-review-how-was-new-year-s-eve-smokin.html|title=Film Review; How Was New Year's Eve? Smokin'! |last=Maslin |first=Janet |website=The New York Times |access-date=April 1, 2022|date=February 26, 1999}}{{cite news |url=https://www.vogue.com/article/200-cigarettes-new-years-eve |title=Why 200 Cigarettes Is Still the Best New Year's Eve Movie Ever |last=Garcia |first=Patricia |newspaper=Vogue|access-date=April 19, 2022|date=December 31, 2015}} In the comedy Drowning Mona (2000), starring Danny DeVito, Affleck played a shy gardener suspected of murder.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-mar-03-ca-4781-story.html |title='Mona' a Tart Take on Human Nature |last=Thomas |first=Kevin |date=March 3, 2000 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Elvis Mitchell of The New York Times acknowledged, in an otherwise negative review, that his role was "well played".{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/03/03/movies/film-review-caution-falling-yugo-zone-ahead.html|title=Film Review; Caution: Falling Yugo Zone Ahead |last=Mitchell |first=Elvis |work=The New York Times |date=March 3, 2000 |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Also in 2000, Affleck had a small role in the comedy Attention Shoppers and played Fortinbras in Ethan Hawke's Hamlet.{{cite news |url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2000-06-23-0006230852-story.html |title=A 'Hamlet' For Our Times |newspaper=Hartford Courant |access-date=April 19, 2022}} He appeared as the brother of Heather Graham's character in the romantic comedy Committed (2000), with Emanuel Levy of Variety praising a "terrific" performance.{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/committed-1117778691/ |title=Review: 'Committed' |last=Levy |first=Emanuel |date=February 17, 2000 |newspaper=Variety|access-date=January 1, 2017}} Also in 2001, he had a small role in American Pie 2 and appeared in the teen slasher film Soul Survivors. Robert Koehler of Variety found him "bland"{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2001/film/reviews/soul-survivors-2-1200469932/ |title=Review: 'Soul Survivors' |last=Koehler |first=Robert |date=September 14, 2001 |newspaper=Variety|access-date=January 1, 2017}} while Carla Meyer of the San Francisco Chronicle said that he did not make "much of an impression, [but may] have been too depressed to really act."{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/REVIEW-Abominable-teen-horror-film-Soul-2881833.php |title=REVIEW / Abominable teen horror film / 'Soul Survivor' is pure nonsense |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=January 1, 2017}} One positive experience Affleck had during this period was working with Van Sant and cinematographer Harris Savides on Finding Forrester (2000) as Van Sant's assistant and technical consultant: "Can you imagine a better film school than that? Gus is not only somebody who I love a lot but is also who has taught me, maybe more than anybody else in film."{{cite web |url=http://www.awardsdaily.com/2013/12/07/casey-affleck-talks-about-out-of-the-furnace/ |title=Casey Affleck talks about Out of the Furnace |date=December 7, 2013 |website=Awards Daily |access-date=January 1, 2017}}

Affleck found a degree of commercial success when he was cast in Steven Soderbergh's heist comedy Ocean's Eleven (2001), starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Damon. In roles Soderbergh originally intended for Luke Wilson and Owen Wilson,{{cite news |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-the-oceans-eleven-movies-123424/ |title=5 Things You Didn't Know About the 'Ocean's Eleven' Movies |newspaper=Rolling Stone |access-date=April 19, 2022|date=November 28, 2016 |first=Noel |last=Murray}} Affleck and Scott Caan played Mormon brothers and wisecracking mechanics who help to rob three Las Vegas casinos simultaneously.{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/casey-affleck-manchester-by-the-sea-1201891603/ |title=How Casey Affleck Found the Role of a Lifetime in 'Manchester by the Sea' |last=Setoodeh |first=Ramin |date=October 18, 2016 |newspaper=Variety |access-date=January 1, 2017}} While it was a "great, fun social experience", Affleck spent much of his time on set "being, like, 100 feet away from the camera in the background." He would later reprise his role in Ocean's Twelve (2004) and Ocean's Thirteen (2007).

In 2002, Affleck and Damon starred in Van Sant's experimental drama Gerry, playing two men who get lost while hiking in the desert.{{cite news |url=http://www.filmmakermagazine.com/archives/issues/winter2002/features/sands_time.php |title=Sands of Time |newspaper=Filmmaker |access-date=January 1, 2017}}{{cite news |url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/features/gerrymandering-an-interview-with-gus-van-sant/ |title=Interview: Gus Van Sant Talks Gerry, Béla Tarr, J.T. Leroy, and More |work=Slant Magazine |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Affleck, Damon, and Van Sant conceived of the idea and wrote the screenplay together while living in neighboring New York apartments. The film, which had minimal dialogue, received mixed reviews.{{cite news |url=https://www.avclub.com/the-new-cult-canon-gerry-1798214953 |title=The New Cult Canon: Gerry |date=October 8, 2008 |access-date=April 19, 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_Film_of_the_week/0,4267,1026936,00.html |title=Gerry|website=The Guardian |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Affleck, who rarely watches his own films, said of Gerry in 2016: "That was an incredible experience. I saw one scene recently out of context at the Telluride Film Festival and I can't believe anyone ever sat through the whole thing. It probably works better as a whole but one scene lifted out – I thought, 'This is unbearable!'" Also in 2002, Affleck starred with Damon and then-girlfriend Summer Phoenix in a West End stage production of Kenneth Lonergan's This Is Our Youth.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2002/may/08/theatre.artsfeatures2 |title=This Is Our Youth |last=Gardner |first=Lyn |date=May 8, 2002 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077 |access-date=January 1, 2017}}{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3577077/Drugs-snogs-a-stellar-cast-and-the-coolest-night-at-the-theatre.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3577077/Drugs-snogs-a-stellar-cast-and-the-coolest-night-at-the-theatre.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Drugs, snogs, a stellar cast – and the coolest night at the theatre |last=Spencer |first=Charles |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=January 1, 2017}}{{cbignore}} Lonergan and Affleck became friends during rehearsals,{{cite news |url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/Casey-Afflecks-performance-in-Manchester-by-the-Sea-has-critics-raving.html |title=Casey Affleck's performance in 'Manchester by the Sea' has critics raving |newspaper=Philadelphia Inquirer |access-date=April 19, 2022}} and Affleck later acted in workshop productions of Lonergan's plays in New York.{{cite news |url=http://www.scpr.org/programs/the-frame/2016/09/03/51841/telluride-casey-affleck-reflects-on-working-with-j/ |title=Telluride: Casey Affleck reflects on working with Joaquin Phoenix, Christian Bale and others |last=Radio |first=Southern California Public |date=September 3, 2016 |newspaper=Southern California Public Radio |access-date=January 1, 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2016/09/casey-affleck-interview-2016-telluride-film-festival-manchester-by-the-sea-1201722112/2/ |title=Casey Affleck Interview: 'Manchester By the Sea' Star On Early Roles |last=Kohn |first=Eric|work=IndieWire |date=September 2, 2016 |access-date=January 1, 2017}}

File:Casey Affleck (cropped).jpg

Affleck's first leading role was in 2006's little-seen independent comedy-drama Lonesome Jim, directed by Steve Buscemi. He played a depressed writer who returns from New York to live with his parents in Indiana, and begins a relationship with Liv Tyler's character.{{cite web |url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/oh-brother-where-art-thou-casey-affleck-interview-1-1431777 |title=Oh brother, where art thou? – Casey Affleck interview |website=The Scotsman |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Buscemi has said he knew Affleck would be able to carry the film after watching his performance in Gerry.{{cite news |url=http://www.ecranlarge.com/films/interview/900885-steve-buscemi-lonesome-jim |title=Interview – Steve Buscemi (Lonesome Jim) |date=November 14, 2005|publisher=EcranLarge.com |language=fr-FR |access-date=January 1, 2017}}{{cite web |url=http://www.sacurrent.com/sanantonio/media-quiet-steve/Content?oid=2276350 |title=Media Quiet Steve |last=Haddon |first=Cole |website=San Antonio Current |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Stephen Hunter of The Washington Post remarked: "Affleck's interesting .. He probably can't be a star in big movies because his drawback is a voice that sounds like a snivel drawn through a wet nasal passage into a whine ... And yet in certain kinds of films – this kind – he's 100 percent authentic."{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/13/AR2006041302146.html |title=Bleak House on the Prairie |last=Hunter |first=Stephen |date=April 14, 2006 |newspaper=The Washington Po|issn=0190-8286 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Ty Burr of The Boston Globe said Affleck "gets so far under the skin of this semi-charming jerk that the performance becomes both brave and aggravating."{{cite web |url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/05/05/humor_in_jim_is_a_little_too_dry/ |title=Humor in 'Jim' is a little too dry – The Boston Globe |website=The Boston Globe |access-date=January 1, 2017}} However, Stephen Holden of The New York Times felt it "would be a stronger movie if Mr. Affleck had the wherewithal to bare more of the passive-aggressive rage inside ... a more resourceful actor would have used this blank slate to scrawl a thousand telling details."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/24/movies/lonesome-jim-discovers-you-can-go-home-again-hat-in-hand.html |title='Lonesome Jim' Discovers You Can Go Home Again (Hat in Hand) |last=Holden |first=Stephen |date=March 24, 2006 |newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Also in 2006, he had a supporting role in the romantic comedy The Last Kiss as a friend of Zach Braff's character.{{cite web |url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2006/09/15/last_kiss_commits_to_low_fidelity/ |title='Last Kiss' commits to low fidelity |website=The Boston Globe |access-date=January 1, 2017}}

Affleck had a breakthrough year in 2007, with the release of two films featuring critically acclaimed performances.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/movies/casey-affleck-interview-manchester-by-the-sea.html |title=Casey Affleck Is Making Another Splash, Reluctantly |last=Buckley |first=Cara |date=November 4, 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} The first of these performances was in the Western drama The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, in which he played Robert Ford to Brad Pitt's Jesse James.{{cite news |url=http://www.hollywood.com/general/brad-pitt-casey-affleck-jesse-james-interview-57174058/ |title='The Assassination of Jesse James' Interview: Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck Repeat the Lore |author=Hollywood.com Staff |date=September 21, 2007|publisher=Hollywood.com |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Affleck auditioned repeatedly for the role.{{cite web |url=http://www.mysinchew.com/node/8713 |title=The Other Affleck|publisher=mysinchew.com |access-date=January 1, 2017}} While the director Andrew Dominik had seen Affleck in Gerry,{{cite news |url=http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/interview-assassination-of-jesse-jamess-director-andrew-dominik/ |title=Interview: Assassination of Jesse James's Director Andrew Dominik|publisher=FirstShowing.net |access-date=January 1, 2017}}{{cite news |url=https://thefilmstage.com/features/living-in-the-shadow-of-jesse-james-an-appreciation-of-casey-afflecks-best-performance/ |title=Living in the Shadow of 'Jesse James': An Appreciation of Casey Affleck's Best Performance |date=December 2, 2013 |newspaper=The Film Stage |language=en-US |access-date=January 1, 2017}} he cast him partly because of his "beautiful-sounding voice. The voice is the thing that really gets you."{{cite news |url=http://uproxx.com/hitfix/exclusive-andrew-dominik-remembers-embattled-jesse-james-production-as-revival-screening-looms/ |title=Exclusive: 'Jesse James' director remembers embattled production as revival screening looms |date=November 7, 2013 |newspaper=UPROXX |language=en-US |access-date=January 1, 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2013/12/terrence-malick-thought-it-was-too-slow-10-things-learned-from-the-revival-screening-of-the-assassination-of-jesse-james-by-the-coward-robert-ford-90884/ |title=Terrence Malick Thought It Was Too Slow: 10 Things Learned From The Revival Screening Of 'The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford' |last=Hoffman |first=Jordan |website=IndieWire |date=December 9, 2013 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Manohla Dargis of The New York Times described Affleck's performance as a "revelation" which "manages to make the character seem dumb and the actor wily and smart."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/21/movies/21assa.html |title=The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford – Movies – Review |last=Dargis |first=Manohla |date=September 21, 2007 |newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Similarly, Claudia Puig of USA Today declared him a "real revelation [who] perfectly inhabits the role"{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2007-09-20-jesse-james_N.htm |title='Jesse James' is just a great, gorgeous Western |work=USA Today |access-date=December 14, 2014 |first=Claudia |last=Puig |date=September 20, 2007}} while Todd McCarthy of Variety said Affleck made "an indelible impression as the insecure, physically unprepossessing weakling."{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2007/film/awards/the-assassination-of-jesse-james-by-the-coward-robert-ford-1200556813/ |title=The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford|work=Variety |access-date=April 19, 2022|first=Todd |last=McCarthy |date=August 31, 2007}} Dana Stevens of Slate said "the movie belongs to Affleck [who] goes for broke in a wonderfully brave and weird performance as the craven naif Bob. Somehow he makes us want to flee this creep at top speed, even as we pray no harm will come to him." For his performance, Affleck was nominated for the Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

While he was filming The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford in Calgary, Affleck was visited by his brother, who offered him the leading role in his directorial project, the Boston crime thriller Gone Baby Gone (2007). While his brother was a first-time director and in the midst of a career downturn, Affleck had confidence in the project: "I felt like I knew him better than anyone else did."{{cite news |url=https://www.ocregister.com/2007/10/18/ben-affleck-behind-the-scenes/ |title=Ben Affleck, behind the scenes |last=Koltnow |first=Barry |newspaper=The Orange County Register |date=October 18, 2007 |access-date=April 19, 2022}} His performance, as an inexperienced private investigator tasked with finding a missing child, earned Affleck further plaudits for his acting.{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gone_baby_gone/ |title=Gone Baby Gone |date=October 19, 2007 |publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|access-date=December 14, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150817101856/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gone_baby_gone/ |archive-date=August 17, 2015 }} Manohla Dargis of The New York Times said: "I'm not sure exactly when Casey Affleck became such a good actor ... Most actors want you to love them, but [he] doesn't seem to know that, or maybe he doesn't care."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/19/movies/19gone.html |title=Gone Baby Gone – Movies – Review |last=Dargis |first=Manohla |date=October 19, 2007 |newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Jim Ridley of The Village Voice described him as "a major talent coming into his own"{{cite news |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/film/beantown-boys-make-good-6424146 |title=Beantown Boys Make Good |last=Ridley |first=Jim |date=October 9, 2007 |newspaper=The Village Voice |access-date=January 1, 2017}} while Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle remarked that "the revelation is Casey Affleck, who heretofore has been a rather wormy, uncharismatic screen presence."{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Gone-Baby-Gone-gritty-and-gripping-with-shades-2534442.php |title='Gone Baby Gone' gritty and gripping, with shades of gray |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Ty Burr of The Boston Globe commented: "I'd never stopped to consider Casey Affleck as a movie star before, but under his big brother's tutelage, he blooms as a leading man of richly watchable savvy and intelligence."{{cite news |url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2007/10/17/here_here/ |title=Here, here! With crime thriller 'Gone Baby Gone,' Ben Affleck returns home and captures Boston in all its gritty glory |last=Burr |first=Ty|work=The Boston Globe |access-date=December 14, 2014}}

While The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Gone Baby Gone were, respectively, a financial failure and a modest box office success,{{cite web |url=https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl2153022977/ |title=Gone Baby Gone (2007)|publisher=Box Office Mojo|access-date=April 19, 2022}} Affleck's acting career was widely believed to be at a turning point. However, he lost career momentum while directing I'm Still Here (2010), a divisive mockumentary about the musical career of his friend and then brother-in-law Joaquin Phoenix. While Affleck later clarified that it was "a planned, staged and scripted work of fiction",{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/8016510/Casey-Affleck-Joaquin-Phoenix-hoax-made-me-go-broke.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/8016510/Casey-Affleck-Joaquin-Phoenix-hoax-made-me-go-broke.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Casey Affleck: Joaquin Phoenix hoax made me go broke |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=January 1, 2017}}{{cbignore}} there was much media speculation during filming about whether Phoenix's public behavior was performance art or a genuine breakdown.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/movies/17affleck.html |title=Documentary? Better Call It Performance Art|work=The New York Times |access-date=December 14, 2014 |first=Michael |last=Cieply |date=September 16, 2010}} Claudia Puig of USA Today remarked that, "whether truth or folly, it's not particularly well made. Even in the midst of Phoenix's most oddball and obsessive torment, it's boring ... What, exactly, is the point of a joke that nobody really gets?"{{cite web |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/movies/reviews/2010-09-10-Imstillhere10_ST_N.htm |title='I'm Still Here': Joaquin Phoenix's meltdown, or a bizarre put-on?|work=USA Today |access-date=June 23, 2017 |date=September 9, 2010 |first=Claudia |last=Puig}} Ty Burr of The Boston Globe described it as "an interesting but half-baked exercise in persona deconstruction, celebrity politics, and meta-meta-entertainment ... Parts of it are close to genius; most of it is actively torturous to watch."{{cite news |url=http://archive.boston.com/ae/movies/articles/2010/09/10/phoenix_goes_up_in_flames/ |title=I'm Still Here |last=Burr |first=Ty |newspaper=The Boston Globe |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said the film "turns out to be much more interesting to speculate about than to actually watch."{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-sep-10-la-et-stillhere-20100910-story.html |title=Movie review: 'I'm Still Here' |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |date=September 10, 2010 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times|issn=0458-3035 |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Reflecting on the experience in 2016, Affleck said: "We never thought people would actually think it was real ... In hindsight, we should have had a press junket and done talk shows and said how it was a mockumentary."

Affleck used his own money to fund I'm Still Here and, after running out of cash, filming was paused for a month to allow him to play a Texan serial killer in Michael Winterbottom's crime drama The Killer Inside Me (2010).{{cite news |url=https://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/14372 |title='Killer Inside Me' Finds New Director and Cast|publisher=BloodyDisgusting |date=November 17, 2008 |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Affleck later expressed regret over the film's graphic violence. Philip French of The Guardian found him "disturbingly brilliant"{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jun/06/killer-inside-me-film-review |title=The Killer Inside Me |last=French |first=Philip |date=June 5, 2010 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} while Peter Travers of Rolling Stone praised "a mesmeric, implosively powerful performance."{{cite news |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-reviews/the-killer-inside-me-252069/ |title=The Killer Inside Me |newspaper=Rolling Stone |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Mark Olsen of the Los Angeles Times said Affleck "showcases his uncanny ability to project a person holding two thoughts in his head at once, as he often gives away nothing in his face to convey the firestorm obviously raging in his soul."{{cite web |url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2010/01/sundance-2010-the-killer-inside-me-.html |title=Sundance 2010: In defense of 'The Killer Inside Me' |date=January 29, 2010 |website=Los Angeles Times Blogs – 24 Frames|access-date=January 1, 2017}} Affleck then had a supporting role in the heist comedy Tower Heist (2011){{cite web |url=http://www.visualhollywood.com/movies_2011/tower_heist/notes.pdf |title=Tower Heist Production Notes |access-date=November 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120612134854/http://www.visualhollywood.com/movies_2011/tower_heist/notes.pdf |archive-date=June 12, 2012 |url-status=dead }} and voiced a character in the 2012 animation ParaNorman.{{cite news |url=https://entertainment.ie/movies/movie-reviews/paranorman-4140/ |title=ParaNorman |newspaper=entertainment.ie |access-date=April 19, 2022}}

After spending "a big chunk of time" directing I'm Still Here and dealing with the subsequent backlash,{{cite news |url=http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/2983/casey-affleck-rooney-mara-on-ain-t-them-bodies-saints |title=Casey Affleck & Rooney Mara on Ain't Them Bodies Saints |newspaper=AnOther |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Affleck returned to regular acting work in 2013. "It was ugly for a minute ... I sort of remembered why I liked acting and I missed it." In David Lowery's Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013), Affleck and Rooney Mara starred as outlaw lovers in 1970s-era Texas.{{cite web |url=http://www.iamrogue.com/news/interviews/item/9475-iar-interview-rooney-mara-and-casey-affleck-talk-aint-them-bodies-saints.html |title=IAR Interview: Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck Talk 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' |publisher=iamROGUE.com |access-date=January 1, 2017 |archive-date=December 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226145023/http://www.iamrogue.com/news/interviews/item/9475-iar-interview-rooney-mara-and-casey-affleck-talk-aint-them-bodies-saints.html |url-status=dead }} Affleck was drawn to the opportunity to play a character who "was a much better person than anyone thought", after a string of roles as "assassins or murderers or just creeps". Shannon M. Houston of Paste described him as the film's "standout actor": "Down to his very jawline, Affleck captures the physicality and feeling of a sincerely romantic outlaw."{{cite news |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/aint-them-bodies-saints/|title=Ain't Them Bodies Saints |newspaper=Paste|date= August 19, 2013 |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times remarked: "Affleck plays conflicted souls so very well ... Here you wish for a criminal's redemption."{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-xpm-2013-aug-15-la-et-mn-aint-them-bodies-saints-review-story.html |title=Review: 'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' is a romantic sinner |last=Sharkey |first=Betsy |date=August 15, 2013 |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |issn=0458-3035 |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Matt Pais of the Chicago Tribune said: "He has great instincts when it comes to morally compromised anti-heroes, and without trolling for our sympathy, Affleck's Bob is more than just a collection of behaviors; it's a smartly considered performance."{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/redeye/redeye-aint-them-bodies-saints-review-20130826-column.html |title=Ain't Them Bodies Saints' review: Like crust with the bread cut off |newspaper=Chicago Tribune|author=Matt Pais|date=August 29, 2013 |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Sebastian Doggart of The Guardian said he "shows himself again to be a master of the criminal outsider"{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jan/25/aint-them-bodies-saints-review |title=Sundance film festival 2013: Ain't Them Bodies Saints – first look review |last=Doggart |first=Sebastian |date=January 25, 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} while Chuck Wilson of The Village Voice found him "flat-out heartbreaking".{{cite news |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/film/the-gorgeous-aint-them-bodies-saints-goes-deep-in-the-heart-of-texans-6439172 |title=The Gorgeous Ain't Them Bodies Saints Goes Deep in the Heart of Texans |last=Wilson |first=Chuck |date=August 14, 2013 |newspaper=The Village Voice |access-date=January 1, 2017}}

The opportunity to act opposite Christian Bale in the drama Out of the Furnace "reinvigorated" Affleck and reminded him why he enjoyed acting.{{cite news |url=https://www.bostonmagazine.com/arts-entertainment/2013/11/26/casey-affleck-out-of-the-furnace/ |title=Q&A: Casey Affleck Talks New Movie 'Out of the Furnace' |newspaper=Boston|date=November 26, 2013|access-date=April 19, 2022}} Claudia Puig of USA Today found his performance as an Iraq War veteran dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder "completely captivating ... The chemistry between Bale and Affleck is powerful, intensifying the credibility of their brotherly bond."{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/12/03/out-of-the-furnace-review/3551107/ |title=Gritty, well-executed 'Furnace' mesmerizes|work=USA Today |access-date=June 23, 2017 |date=December 3, 2013 |first=Claudia |last=Puig}} Matt Pais of the Chicago Tribune said Affleck "finds something fierce and noble in uneven material and in his character's rage. He's not like any other actor in American movies." Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post described the performance as "a searing portrayal of a young man who pushes himself to the punishing physical limit in search of both money and catharsis."{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/out-of-the-furnace-movie-review-bale-affleck-dominate-downbeat-crime-drama/2013/12/04/d82b8f7c-5c27-11e3-95c2-13623eb2b0e1_story.html |title='Out of the Furnace' movie review: Bale, Affleck dominate downbeat crime drama |last=Hornaday |first=Ann |date=December 4, 2013 |newspaper=The Washington Post|issn=0190-8286 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Manohla Dargis of The New York Times remarked that Affleck "can come across as intensely vulnerable on screen, which nicely works for a broken man like Rodney."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/04/movies/out-of-the-furnace-with-christian-bale.html |title='Out of the Furnace,' With Christian Bale |last=Dargis |first=Manohla |date=December 3, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} In 2014, Affleck and Jessica Chastain had supporting roles in Christopher Nolan's science fiction film Interstellar as the grown-up children of Matthew McConaughey's character,{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2014/nov/05/interstellar-review-christopher-nolan-matthew-mcconaughey |title=Interstellar review: Nolan's biggest spectacle – and biggest disappointment |last=Bradshaw |first=Peter |date=November 5, 2014 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} with Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter describing his character as "thinly developed".{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/interstellar-film-review-744059/ |title='Interstellar': Film Review |newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Also in 2014, Affleck and producer John Powers Middleton launched the production company, The Affleck/Middleton Project.{{cite web |title=Casey Affleck and John Powers Middleton Announce New Joint Venture, Name John Ridley President of Production |url=http://www.themovienetwork.com/press/casey-affleck-and-john-powers-middleton-announce-new-joint-venture-name-john-ridley-president-|work=The Movie Network |access-date=June 6, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714222403/http://www.themovienetwork.com/press/casey-affleck-and-john-powers-middleton-announce-new-joint-venture-name-john-ridley-president- |archive-date=July 14, 2014 |url-status=dead}}

Affleck starred in three films in 2016, the first two of which underperformed financially.{{cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2016/02/28/box-office-bombs-away-as-gods-of-egypt-triple-9-and-eddie-the-eagle-perish-on-oscar-weekend/ |title=Box Office: Bombs Away As 'Gods Of Egypt,' 'Triple 9,' And 'Eddie The Eagle' Perish On Oscar Weekend |last=Mendelson |first=Scott|work=Forbes |access-date=June 23, 2017 |date=February 28, 2016}}{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/disney-expects-to-lose-75-million-on-the-finest-hours-1201725537/ |title=Disney Expects $75 Million Loss on 'The Finest Hours' |last=Rainey |first=James |date=March 8, 2016 |newspaper=Variety |language=en-US |access-date=January 9, 2017}} In John Hillcoat's crime thriller Triple 9, Affleck played an uncorruptible detective. Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle said he "arrests our attention. I wonder if any other screen actor has ever seemed so focused and so distracted at the same time. He thinks more than he says, and so we listen, trying to get the part he's leaving out."{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Triple-9-is-a-meticulous-well-made-crime-6851734.php |title='Triple 9' does justice to evil |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Justin Chang of Variety described him as "one of the most persuasive leading men of his generation"{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2016/film/reviews/triple-9-review-casey-affleck-1201707725/ |title=Film Review: 'Triple 9' |last=Chang |first=Justin |date=February 17, 2016 |newspaper=Variety |access-date=January 1, 2017}} while Brogan Morris of Paste declared him "maybe Hollywood's best offbeat leading man ... Few actors can suggest so much with such quiet precision, and even here Affleck is compulsively watchable despite his undercooked character."{{cite news |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/triple-9/ |title=Triple 9 |newspaper=Paste |date=February 23, 2016|access-date=January 1, 2017}} In Disney's disaster drama The Finest Hours, Affleck played a taciturn engineer on board a sinking ship. David Sims of The Atlantic said he "gives the kind of measured, thought-out performance he's so eminently capable of, even if the film isn't complex enough to rise to his level ... He animates an introverted character with subtle mental busywork whenever he's on the screen."{{cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/01/the-finest-hours-a-stoic-tale-of-a-daring-rescue/433911/ |title='The Finest Hours' Is as Dependable as Disaster Movies Come |last=Sims |first=David |newspaper=The Atlantic |language=en-US |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter noted that he "manages to turn his man of few words into the movie's most compelling figure."{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/finest-hours-film-review-855165/ |title='The Finest Hours': Film Review |newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=April 19, 2022|date=January 18, 2016|author=Sheri Linden}}

File:Casey Affleck on the Manchester by the Sea red carpet (30165304696) (cropped 2).jpg in 2016]]

In his final role of 2016, Affleck starred as Lee Chandler, a grief-stricken loner, in Kenneth Lonergan's drama Manchester by the Sea. One of the film's producers, Matt Damon, initially intended to star in the film. When scheduling conflicts made this unfeasible, Damon agreed to step aside on the condition that he be replaced with Affleck.{{cite news |url=http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/movies/matt-damon-would-only-have-passed-manchester-by-the-sea-role-to-casey-affleck-35047717.html |title=Matt Damon would only have passed Manchester By The Sea role to Casey Affleck – Independent.ie |newspaper=The Irish Independent |access-date=January 9, 2017}} Lonergan readily agreed,{{Citation |last=HeyUGuys |title=Kenneth Lonergan Exclusive Interview – Manchester by the Sea |date=January 4, 2017 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Ic9I0tolQ | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/G1Ic9I0tolQ| archive-date=October 30, 2021|access-date=January 9, 2017}}{{cbignore}} remarking that Affleck was "the natural person to go to."{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/manchester-by-sea-kenneth-lonergan-films-origin-working-casey-affleck-957548 |title='Manchester by the Sea': Kenneth Lonergan on the Film's Origin, Working With Casey Affleck |newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter|author=Patrick Shanley|date=December 19, 2016|access-date=January 9, 2017}} Affleck had close relationships with both men and had previously offered notes on early drafts of the script. The film was a box office success,{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/top-grossing-movies-2016-best-art-house-box-office-earners-960870/item/la-la-land-box-office-art-house-films-960883 |title=La La Land – Box Office 2016: 'La La Land,' 'Manchester by the Sea' Top Highest-Grossing Art House Films |newspaper=The Hollywood Reporter |access-date=January 9, 2017}} and Affleck's performance received widespread critical praise. A.O. Scott of The New York Times described it as "one of the most fiercely disciplined screen performances in recent memory. [He] conveys both Lee's inner avalanche of feeling and the numb decorum that holds it back."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/18/movies/manchester-by-the-sea-review-kenneth-lonergan-casey-affleck.html |title=Review: 'Manchester by the Sea' and the Tides of Grief |last=Scott |first=A. O. |date=November 17, 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 1, 2017}}

Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times praised his "quietly ferocious performance, his willingness to submerge himself into this character to an almost frightening extent."{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-manchester-sea-review-20161114-story.html |title=Casey Affleck's searing performance cuts deep in Kenneth Lonergan's 'Manchester by the Sea' |last=Turan |first=Kenneth |website=Los Angeles Times |date=November 17, 2016 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post said the film was "anchored by a quietly volcanic central performance by Casey Affleck, in a breathtaking breakout role he's long deserved."{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/casey-affleck-delivers-a-breakout-performance-in-manchester-by-the-sea/2016/11/22/488aa28e-ad9d-11e6-8b45-f8e493f06fcd_story.html |title=Casey Affleck delivers a breakout performance in 'Manchester by the Sea' |last=Hornaday |first=Ann |date=November 22, 2016 |newspaper=The Washington Post|issn=0190-8286 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} David Fear of Rolling Stone stated: "He's given impressive turns before [but] the way Affleck gradually shows you the man's bone-deep grief and emotional damage makes you believe that one of this generation's finest actors has simply been waiting to be coaxed out."{{cite news |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/movies/movie-news/manchester-by-the-sea-the-story-behind-sundance-2016s-best-movie-42626/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204070755/http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/manchester-by-the-sea-the-story-behind-sundance-2016s-best-movie-20160201|archive-date=February 4, 2016 |title=How 'Manchester by the Sea' Became a Sundance 2016 Hit |newspaper=Rolling Stone |access-date=April 19, 2022}} Affleck won the National Board of Review, Critics' Choice, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Academy Award for his performance.

After dropping out of Lowery's Pete's Dragon in order to star in Manchester by the Sea, Affleck reteamed with the director to star opposite Rooney Mara in the experimental drama A Ghost Story, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2017.{{cite web |url=https://thefilmstage.com/news/casey-affleck-and-rooney-mara-secretly-shot-a-new-feature-with-david-lowery-this-summer/ |title=Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara Secretly Shot a New Feature With David Lowery This Summer |website=The Film Stage |first=Jordan |last=Raup |date=November 22, 2016 |access-date=November 22, 2016}} Affleck's character dies suddenly at the outset and he spends much of the film covered by a white sheet with two eye-holes, haunting his former home. David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter said Affleck's performance managed to resonate despite limited time onscreen.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/a-ghost-story-review-965994/ |title='A Ghost Story': Film Review {{!}} Sundance 2017 |magazine=The Hollywood Reporter|author=David Rooney|date=January 22, 2017}} Peter Debruge of Variety said Affleck "has never been an easy actor to read. He's a low-charisma mumbler who tends to keep his characters' emotions bottled up, making him the rare performer who can convey as much with a sheet over his head as he does without."{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2017/film/reviews/a-ghost-story-review-1201963220/ |title=Sundance Film Review: Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara in 'A Ghost Story' |last=Debruge |first=Peter |date=January 22, 2017 |newspaper=Variety|access-date=January 30, 2017}} Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian described him as "cinema's finest mumbler ... I can't even tell if he's speaking or just emitting high-pitched vibrations anymore."{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/23/a-ghost-story-review-casey-affleck-david-lowery-rooney-mara |title=A Ghost Story review: Casey Affleck channels Swayze in haunting love story |last=Hoffman |first=Jordan |date=January 23, 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077 |access-date=January 30, 2017}} In 2018, Affleck starred opposite Robert Redford in the outlaw drama The Old Man & the Gun, his third collaboration with Lowery.{{cite web |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2016/10/casey-affleck-robert-redford-star-the-old-man-and-the-gun-david-lowery-1201741324/ |title=Casey Affleck and Robert Redford Join 'The Old Man and the Gun' |last=Calvario |first=Liz |website=IndieWire |date=October 28, 2016 |access-date=January 8, 2017}}

In 2019, he directed, wrote and starred in the survival drama Light of My Life.{{cite web |url=http://infotel.ca/newsitem/casey-affleck-coming-to-osoyoos-to-direct-movie-he-wrote-and-is-starring-in/it39263 |title=Casey Affleck coming to Osoyoos to direct movie he wrote, and is starring in |website=infotel.ca |access-date=February 19, 2017}}{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2016/film/news/casey-affleck-light-of-my-life-survival-drama-1201856529/ |title=Casey Affleck Directing, Starring in Survival Drama 'Light of My Life' |last=McNary |first=Dave |date=September 10, 2016 |newspaper=Variety|access-date=January 1, 2017}} It had its world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 8, 2019{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2019/01/casey-affleck-elisabeth-moss-movie-light-of-my-life-berlin-film-festival-1202538698/ |title=Casey Affleck-Elisabeth Moss Movie 'Light Of My Life' Among Berlin World Premiere Additions |website=Deadline Hollywood |first=Andreas |last=Wiseman |date=January 21, 2019 |access-date=January 21, 2019}} and received positive reviews from film critics.{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/light_of_my_life |title=Light of My Life |website=Rotten Tomatoes |access-date=February 17, 2019}} Affleck next starred in Our Friend, opposite Dakota Johnson and Jason Segel, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite, based upon a true story revolving around a couple, whose best friend moves in for support, following a cancer diagnosis.{{cite web |url=https://deadline.com/2019/01/jason-segel-dakota-johnson-casey-affleck-gabriela-cowperthwaite-brad-ingelsby-the-friend-1202546034/ |title=Jason Segel, Dakota Johnson, Casey Affleck To Star In 'The Friend' |website=Deadline Hollywood |first=Mike Jr. |last=Fleming |date=January 30, 2019 |access-date=January 30, 2019}} which had its world premiere at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.{{cite web |url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/toronto-film-festival-joker-ford-v-ferrari-hustlers-lineup-1203275868/ |title=Toronto Film Festival: 'Joker,' 'Ford v Ferrari,' 'Hustlers' Among Big Premieres |website=Variety |first=Brent |last=Lang |date=July 23, 2019 |access-date=September 17, 2019}} Affleck next acted in and produced The World to Come, directed by Mona Fastvold alongside Katherine Waterston and Vanessa Kirby.{{cite web |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/casey-affleck-sets-world-come-production-banner-1183706/ |title=Casey Affleck Sets 'World to Come' With Production Banner |website=The Hollywood Reporter |first=Alex |last=Ritman |date=February 7, 2019 |access-date=April 19, 2022}} In 2023, Affleck played the supporting role of military intelligence officer Boris Pash in Christopher Nolan's biopic Oppenheimer.{{cite web |last1=Lyttle |first1=Zoey |date=July 21, 2023 |title=See the Stars in 'Oppenheimer' Compared to the Historical Figures They Play |url=https://people.com/oppenheimer-cast-compared-to-real-life-people-they-play-7562171 |website=People |access-date=29 July 2023}}

Affleck was introduced to actress Summer Phoenix by her brother, Joaquin, in the late 1990s.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2004/feb/15/features.magazine |title=Summer time |last=Vernon |first=Polly |date=February 14, 2004 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077 |access-date=January 1, 2017}} They began dating in 2000,{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3613144/Here-comes-Summer.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3613144/Here-comes-Summer.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Here comes Summer |last=Forrest |first=Emma |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |access-date=January 1, 2017}}{{cbignore}} and acted together in both the 2000 film Committed{{cite news |url=https://www.popmatters.com/committed-2005-2496227879.html |title=Committed (2000) |newspaper=PopMatters |access-date=April 19, 2022|author= Michael Abernethy|date=January 12, 2005}} and a 2002 stage production of This Is Our Youth.{{cite news |url=http://www.screendaily.com/features/casey-affleck-on-the-emotional-road-to-manchester-by-the-sea/5111408.article |title=Casey Affleck on the emotional road to 'Manchester By The Sea' |access-date=January 1, 2017}} The couple became engaged in January 2004 and married on June 3, 2006, in Savannah, Georgia.{{cite web |url=https://people.com/celebrity/casey-affleck-summer-phoenix-wed/ |title=Casey Affleck, Summer Phoenix Wed |date=June 5, 2006 |work=People |access-date=April 19, 2022}} They have two sons born in 2004 and 2007.{{cite web |url=https://people.com/parents/casey-affleck-welcomes-a-second-child/ |title=Casey Affleck Welcomes a Second Child |date=January 15, 2008 |website=People |access-date=August 18, 2014}} On August 1, 2017, Phoenix officially filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences",{{cite web |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2017/08/01/summer-phoenix-files-divorce-husband-casey-affleck/528256001/ |title=Summer Phoenix files for divorce from husband Casey Affleck|website=USA Today}} and it was finalized three days later.{{cite news |url=http://www.eonline.com/news/871526/casey-affleck-responds-to-summer-phoenix-s-divorce-filing |title=Casey Affleck Finalizes Divorce From Summer Phoenix |last=Fisher |first=Kendall |date=August 4, 2017|work=E! Online |access-date=December 14, 2017}} Affleck has said it was an amicable divorce and that they remain friends.

He has been in a relationship with actress Caylee Cowan since January 2021.{{Cite web|url=https://people.com/movies/casey-affleck-celebrates-a-year-with-girlfriend-caylee-cowan-you-make-me-a-better-man/|title=Casey Affleck Celebrates a Year of Knowing Girlfriend Caylee Cowan: 'You Make Me a Better Man'|author=Jen Juneau|website=People|access-date=February 28, 2022}}

In a 2016 interview, Affleck said that he had been sober for "almost three years ... My father was a disaster of a drinker, my grandmother was an alcoholic, my brother spent some time in rehab – it's in our genes."

In 2008, Affleck filmed an episode of documentary series 4Real, in which he visited the Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, and remarked upon the progress they had made due largely to "their own resourcefulness and determination and their character, and not because of the goodness of our collective heart."{{cite web |url=http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=465238 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080312030348/http://www.thewest.com.au/aapstory.aspx?StoryName=465238 |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 12, 2008 |title=Aborigines' plight inspires US actor: thewest.com.au |date=March 12, 2008 |access-date=January 9, 2017}} During the 2016 presidential campaign, Affleck supported Hillary Clinton{{Citation |last=Tuitealo |title=Casey Affleck Arremete Contra Donald Trump En El Festival De Cine De Morelia 2016 |date=October 24, 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhMM7XMrf4E | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/AhMM7XMrf4E| archive-date=October 30, 2021|access-date=January 9, 2017}}{{cbignore}} and characterized Donald Trump as "a dangerous fool".{{Citation |last=AP Archive |title=Actress Michelle Williams on Trump victory: 'It was a very hard day to be a mother' |date=November 19, 2016 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NbieCiRnIw | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/7NbieCiRnIw| archive-date=October 30, 2021|access-date=January 9, 2017}}{{cbignore}} In 2017, multiple financial contributions to Trump were made by Affleck's production company, which he co-founded with John Powers Middleton. In a statement, Affleck denied involvement: "I had no knowledge of it, was never asked, and never would have authorized it ... The policies of the Trump administration, and the values they represent, are antithetical to everything I believe in."{{cite web |first=Katie |last=Hasty |title=Casey Affleck Is "Appalled" His Production Company Donated To Donald Trump's Transition Team |url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/katiehasty/casey-affleck-appalled-production-company-trump-donation |website=BuzzFeed |date=February 26, 2017 |access-date=June 11, 2017 |language=en}}

Affleck has settled two sexual harassment lawsuits out of court for an undisclosed amount.{{cite magazine |last1=Dockterman |first1=Eliana |title=What to Know About the Casey Affleck Oscar Controversy |url=https://time.com/4645846/what-to-know-about-the-casey-affleck-oscar-controversy/ |magazine=Time |access-date=January 9, 2021}}

In 2010, two of his former co-workers from I'm Still Here filed civil lawsuits against Affleck. Amanda White, one of the film's producers, sued Affleck for $2 million with multiple complaints including sexual harassment and breach of oral contract.{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/images/Entertainment/White%20Complaint.pdf |title=White v. Affleck, et al., No. BC442321, complaint at 1 (Cal. Super. Ct., L.A. County., July. 23, 2010 |website=ABC News |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111228053716/https://abcnews.go.com/images/Entertainment/White%20Complaint.pdf |archive-date=December 28, 2011}} She detailed numerous "uninvited and unwelcome sexual advances" in the workplace. White alleged that Affleck refused to honor the terms of the production agreement, including her fee, in retaliation.

The film's cinematographer, Magdalena Gorka, sued Affleck for $2.25 million with multiple complaints including intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of oral contract.{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/images/Entertainment/Gorka_complaint.pdf |title=Gorka v. Affleck, et al., No. BC441003, complaint (Cal. Super. Ct., L.A. Cty., Jul. 30, 2010)|website=ABC News}}{{cite news |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2010/08/01/2010-08-01_casey_affleck_sued_by_second_woman_on_joaquin_phoenix_documentary_staff.html |title=Casey Affleck sued by second woman on Joaquin Phoenix documentary staff|work=Daily News |access-date=August 6, 2010 |date=August 1, 2010}} Gorka alleged that she had been subjected to "routine instances" of sexual harassment by crew members including Antony Langdon, "within the presence and with the active encouragement of Affleck."

Initially, Affleck denied the allegations and threatened to countersue.{{cite web |url=http://www.accesshollywood.com/articles/casey-affleck-sexual-harassment-suit-is-completely-fabricated-88331/ |title=Casey Affleck: Sexual Harassment Suit Is 'Completely Fabricated' |website=Access Hollywood |date=July 29, 2010 |access-date=January 9, 2017}} No countersuits were filed. His lawyer claimed, "Both women left the film in April 2009 and both were refused when they wanted to return", and "there was no mention of sexual harassment before June [2010]."{{cite news |url=https://www.thewrap.com/casey-affleck-sexual-harassment-case-heats-19740/ |title=Casey Affleck Sexual Harassment Case Heats Up |date=July 30, 2010 |newspaper=TheWrap |language=en-US |access-date=January 9, 2017}} The film's associate producer Nicole Acacio and an unnamed female editor both defended Affleck's conduct on set.{{cite web |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/casey-affleck-lawsuits-add-strange-story-im/story?id=11308284 |title=What Really Happened on Casey Affleck's Set? |date=August 5, 2010|work=ABC News |access-date=January 9, 2017}} The lawsuits were later settled out of court.{{cite news |url=https://www.thewrap.com/casey-affleck-sexual-harassment-suit-joaquin-phoenix-documentary-settled-20841/ |title=Casey Affleck Sexual Harassment Suit Settled |date=September 14, 2010 |newspaper=TheWrap |language=en-US |access-date=January 9, 2017}} Both women received credit for their work on the project; no details of any financial settlement were released.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/sep/15/casey-affleck-settles-harassment-lawsuits |title=Casey Affleck settles sexual harassment lawsuits |last=Child |first=Ben |date=September 15, 2010 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077 |access-date=January 9, 2017}}

File:Casey Affleck in 2018.jpg

Affleck addressed the allegations in a 2016 interview with The New York Times, stating: "It was settled to the satisfaction of all. I was hurt and upset — I am sure all were — but I am over it. It was an unfortunate situation — mostly for the innocent bystanders of the families of those involved."{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/movies/casey-affleck-interview-manchester-by-the-sea.html |title=Casey Affleck Is Making Another Splash, Reluctantly |last=Buckley |first=Cara |date=November 4, 2016 |newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331 |access-date=January 9, 2017}} The allegations and lawsuits attracted scrutiny during the 2016–17 film awards season, when Affleck was recognized for his performance in Manchester by the Sea, which culminated in further controversy following his Best Actor win at the 89th Academy Awards.{{Cite magazine|last=Keegan|first=Rebecca|date=January 5, 2017|title=An Awards-Season Double Standard?|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/01/the-case-of-casey-vs-nate|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170723224227/http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/01/the-case-of-casey-vs-nate|archive-date=July 23, 2017|magazine=Vanity Fair}}{{Cite magazine|last=Dockterman|first=Eliana|date=February 27, 2017|title=Twitter Reacted Angrily to Casey Affleck's Oscar Win|url=https://time.com/4679374/oscars-2017-casey-affleck-twitter-reactions/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803154158/https://time.com/4679374/oscars-2017-casey-affleck-twitter-reactions/|archive-date=August 3, 2020|magazine=Time}}{{Cite magazine|last=Chi|first=Paul|date=March 9, 2017|title=Brie Larson Says Not Clapping for Casey Affleck at the Oscars "Speaks for Itself"|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/03/brie-larson-casey-affleck-not-clapping-oscars-best-actor|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190207143330/https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/03/brie-larson-casey-affleck-not-clapping-oscars-best-actor|archive-date=February 7, 2019|magazine=Vanity Fair}} The following year, amidst the Me Too movement, Affleck withdrew from presenting the award for Best Actress at the 90th Academy Awards.{{Cite web|last=Kilday|first=Gregg|date=January 25, 2018|title=Oscars: Casey Affleck Won't Present Best Actress Award|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-casey-affleck-wont-present-best-actress-award-1078422|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200505212541/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/oscars-casey-affleck-wont-present-best-actress-award-1078422|archive-date=May 5, 2020|website=The Hollywood Reporter}}

In a 2018 interview with the Associated Press, Affleck discussed the lawsuits and allegations in light of the Me Too movement.{{cite web |last1=Bahr |first1=Linsdey |title=Q&A: Casey Affleck on new film, his Oscars absence and MeToo |url=https://apnews.com/article/e50db6e255364f7da01412a6734a3685 |website=apnews.com |date=August 9, 2018 |publisher=Associated Press |access-date=January 9, 2021}} He characterized his behavior at the time of the lawsuits as defensive and said he has since worked to understand his own culpability. He remorsefully acknowledged that the set of I'm Still Here was "an unprofessional environment" and that "I contributed to that unprofessional environment and I tolerated that kind of behavior from other people and I wish that I hadn't. And I regret a lot of that ... I behaved in a way and allowed others to behave in a way that was really unprofessional. And I'm sorry."

Affleck has been a vegan since 1995.{{cite web |url=http://www.nylon.com/articles/casey-affleck-on-the-cover |title= Casey Affleck on the Cover | website= nylon.com |first= Josh| last= Madden | date= September 30, 2013 |access-date= May 11, 2021}} He has been involved with animal rights campaigns for both People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA){{cite news |url=http://www.peta.org/videos/casey-afflecks-exclusive-interview-with-peta/ |title=Casey Affleck's Exclusive Interview With PETA |website= peta.org |publisher= People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals |language=en-US |access-date=January 9, 2017}}{{cite news |url= http://www.peta.org/blog/casey-afflecks-latest-role-saving-bears/ |title= Casey Affleck's Latest Role? Saving Bears |date=April 25, 2016 |website= peta.org |publisher= People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals |language=en-US |access-date=January 9, 2017}}{{cite AV media | publisher= People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals |title=Casey Affleck Exposes Mutilation of Cows in Dairy Industry |date=September 17, 2012 |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWscTrpBVOM | archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211030/kWscTrpBVOM| archive-date=October 30, 2021|via= YouTube| access-date=January 9, 2017}}{{cbignore}} and Farm Sanctuary.{{cite web |url= http://www.bostonherald.com/inside_track/inside_track/2013/01/casey_affleck_rustles_support_farm_bill |title=Casey Affleck rustles up support for farm bill |work= Boston Herald| first1= Gayle |last1= Fee| agency= AP |first2= Olivia |last2= Vanni |date=January 30, 2013 | publisher= |access-date= May 11, 2021}}

In 2017, Affleck supported the 37th Annual National Veterans Wheelchair Games{{cite web |title=Casey Affleck National Veteran Wheelchair Games shout out video |url=https://www.facebook.com/NickPalmisciano/videos/casey-affleck-national-veteran-wheelchair-games-shout-out-video/10158945871555577/ |language=en |access-date=May 30, 2019| website= Facebook.com| publisher= Nick Palmisciano}} hosted by Paralyzed Veterans of America. In January 2019, he attended the fourth annual Veterans Awards as a presenter.{{cite web |title=Casey Affleck presented the Mental Health Vetty |website=|publisher=Academy of United States Foundation |language=en-US |url=https://www.vettys.org/casey-affleck |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20211204074540/https://www.vettys.org/casey-affleck|archive-date= December 4, 2021|url-status= }}

In June 2020, Affleck, with his mother Christine, founded a fundraising effort, Stories from Tomorrow. The initiative was co-sponsored by Room to Read, WriteGirl and New Earth, an organization where Affleck is a board member. 'Stories from Tomorrow' matches original writing by children ages 5–18 with celebrities who read their work, which is then presented in video form. The money raised will be used to ensure that children around the world have access to education and food.{{Cite web|last1=Hayes|first1=Dade|date=June 12, 2020|title=Stars Align For Casey Affleck-Led Stories From Tomorrow, A Social Media Fundraiser For Children|url=https://deadline.com/2020/06/stars-align-casey-affleck-stories-from-tomorrow-social-media-fundraiser-children-food-learning-coronavirus-1202957628/| access-date=August 4, 2020|website=Deadline Hollywood |language=en}}{{Cite web| title=Common, Matt Damon & More Are Reading Short Stories Written by Children to Amplify Kids' Voices |first= Rachel |last= DeSantis |date= June 12, 2020 |url=https://people.com/human-interest/stars-reading-short-stories-written-by-children/ |access-date= May 11, 2021| website= People| language=EN}}{{Cite web|title=Muguruza reads 'Stories From Tomorrow' to support child literacy |url= http://www.wtatennis.com/news/1702686/muguruza-reads-stories-from-tomorrow-to-support-child-literacy |date= June 20, 2020| first= Stephanie |last= Livaudais| website= wtatennis.com| publisher= Women's Tennis Association| language=en| access-date=May 11, 2021}}

{{Main|List of awards and nominations received by Casey Affleck}}

• List of actors with Academy Award nominations

{{reflist}}

{{commons category}}

{{wikiquote}}

• [https://www.caseyaffleck.com/ Official website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201026150610/https://www.caseyaffleck.com/ |date=October 26, 2020 }}
• {{Instagram|caseyaffleck}}
• [https://www.caseyaffleck-seachangemedia.com/ Sea Change Media] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201024053712/https://www.caseyaffleck-seachangemedia.com/ |date=October 24, 2020 }}
• {{IMDb name|729|Casey Affleck}}
• [http://www.indexmagazine.com/interviews/casey_affleck.shtml Interview with Casey Affleck], Index Magazine (1998)
• {{cite news| url= https://deadline.com/2019/02/light-of-my-life-casey-affleck-elisabeth-moss-interview-1202546235/ |title= Casey Affleck 'Light Of My Life' Q&A: The Film With Elisabeth Moss About Parental Love Set In A Dangerous Dystopian World| work= Deadline Hollywood| date= | access-date= }}
• {{cite news| url= https://www.forbes.com/sites/jerylbrunner/2019/08/11/making-his-directorial-debut-casey-affleck-explores-the-ferocious-bond-of-parent-and-child/#4ad10a52fed4 |title= Making His Directorial Debut Casey Affleck Explores The Ferocious Bond of Parent and Child| work= Forbes.com| date= | first= | last= | access-date= }}

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{{Academy Award Best Actor}}

{{AACTA International Award for Best Actor}}

{{BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role}}

{{Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor}}

{{Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor}}

{{Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Actor}}

{{Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor}}

{{Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor}}

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{{Golden Globe Award Best Actor Motion Picture Drama}}

{{Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Actor}}

{{Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor}}

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{{London Film Critics Circle Award for Actor of the Year}}

{{National Board of Review Award for Best Actor}}

{{National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor}}

{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actor}}

{{National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor}}

{{New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor}}

{{Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor}}

{{San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor}}

{{San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor}}

{{Satellite Award Best Supporting Actor Motion Picture}}

{{Seattle Film Critics Society Award for Best Actor}}

{{St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor}}

{{St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor}}

{{Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Affleck, Casey}}

Category:1975 births

Category:Living people

Category:Male actors from Cambridge, Massachusetts

Category:Episcopalians from Massachusetts

Category:American male film actors

Category:American people of English descent

Category:American people of German descent

Category:American people of Irish descent

Category:American people of Scottish descent

Category:American people of Swedish descent

Category:American male stage actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:American male voice actors

Category:American veganism activists

Category:People from Falmouth, Massachusetts

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:Film producers from Massachusetts

Category:Best Drama Actor Golden Globe (film) winners

Category:Best Actor BAFTA Award winners

Category:Best Actor Academy Award winners

Category:Cambridge Rindge and Latin School alumni

Category:Best Actor AACTA International Award winners

Category:Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners

Category:George Washington University alumni

Category:Columbia College (New York) alumni

Category:Columbia University alumni