The notoriety of being the little brother of superstar Ben Affleck hasn’t been enough for Casey – he’s crafted an incredible career all on his own. The Boston-bred actor has impressed in a variety of roles since his early appearances in the mid-90s, and is coming off a breakthrough 2007 during which he starred in the elder Affleck’s directorial debut “Gone Baby Gone” and “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” for which he received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination.
Affleck was born on August 12, 1975 in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and began acting at age 20 in Gus Van Sant’s incendiary Nicole Kidman-starring black comedy “To Die For.” Around this time Casey attended Columbia University where he focused his studies on physics and astronomy. The collaboration with Gus Van Sant paid off in spades for both Afflecks, who enlisted him to direct Ben and Matt Damon’s script for “Good Will Hunting,” which won the pair a Best Original Screenplay Oscar and skyrocketed Damon, Ben, and Casey to instant fame. That same year, 1997, Ben and Casey both appeared in Kevin Smith’s foul-mouthed romantic comedy “Chasing Amy.” Casey’s notable roles over the next few years included “200 Cigarettes,” “Drowning Mona,” the under-appreciated Ethan Hawke-starring post-modern adaptation of “Hamlet” in 2000, and “Ocean’s 11” alongside Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, and others. He has since starred in both of Steven Soderbergh’s “Ocean’s” sequels.
Casey re-teamed with Van Sant in 2002’s “Gerry,” the first of the director’s unofficial trilogy of low-budget visual experiments – all three films (“Elephant” and “Last Days” are the others) feature the cinematography of Harris Savides and a languid, dreamy pace that emphasizes loneliness, isolation, and the existential confusion of modern life. The young Affleck has since come into his own as a leading man, first in 2005’s indie “Lonesome Jim” and recently in his two landmark performances of 2007 – “Gone Baby Gone” and “Jesse James.” His performance in the latter has received enormous praise, matching every move of Brad Pitt’s equally astounding performance as the titular outlaw. Affleck has received his first Oscar nomination for the film.