Casey Affleck Says Hollywood Cynicism “Melted” After Oscar Win

Casey Affleck is voicing regret at not having played by Hollywood’s rules.

The revelation came on The Hollywood Reporter‘s It Happened in Hollywood podcast, where Affleck, 48, revisited the making of 2007’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, in which he played the killer of the famed outlaw, depicted by Brad Pitt.

The role earned Affleck nominations for the Academy Award, the Golden Globe, the Screen Actors Guild Award and others — but Affleck now admits he could have been more gracious on the trophy circuit.

“I was chewing gum at some award show and people said, ‘Who does this little punk think he is? Like he’s on camera chewing gum at the SAG Awards.’ And that I wasn’t taking it seriously enough. … I realize now that I could have been more respectful because it does mean something,” Affleck told It Happened in Hollywood host Seth Abramovitch.

“It means something to be acknowledged by your peers, who are a group of hardworking, very talented people,” Affleck continued. “By and large, our community is really, really great people. That was our office Christmas party. Those are our industry celebrations, and I guess I could have been more deferential and respectful and not chewed gum or done the campaigning or something.”

Affleck, who was 31 at the time, had a new baby at home and says that contributed to his reluctance to “put on a suit and be on a TV show where you’re a contestant for something. … So the stress outweighed the pleasure and it outweighed my desire to be there. I wanted to be home with my new baby.”

Affleck would have another swing at the big awards with 2016’s Manchester by the Sea, which earned him the Oscar and Golden Globe for best actor.

The win was partly overshadowed by the resurfacing of sexual harassment allegations made in a 2010 civil lawsuit by two staffers on the set of the Affleck-directed mockumentary I’m Not Here, for which Affleck settled out of court. The terms of the settlement prevent Affleck from speaking publicly about the case, but he did address it in 2018, acknowledging he allowed for an “unprofessional environment” to flourish on the set.

The actor notes that years after the Jesse James awards circuit experience, he wishes he’d given Manchester studio Amazon more credit during his second go-around on the campaign trail.

“What I should have said in that year, because my head was clouded by all the distractions, was that, like, man did Amazon Films give that movie a shot,” he says. “It could have come and gone.”

Affleck says of the Oscar win, “I’m astonished and touched and honored by it all. Whatever cynicism I might have had, boy, it melts away pretty quickly when you’re standing up there, and you look out at people who you’ve admired for a long time and whose work you’ve watched since you were young and you see their face looking back at you.

Asked where he displays his Oscar, Affleck replied, “It’s in my closet.”

Affleck’s next film, a crime comedy called The Instigators co-starring Matt Damon and directed by Doug Liman, debuts on Apple TV+ on Aug. 9. Listen to the entire episode of It Happened in Hollywood here: