Entertainment | Film & Cinema
The other Affleck
He's best friends with Joaquin Phoenix and he's worked with some of the biggest names in the business, but Casey Affleck says he is happiest when working with his brother Ben.
- By Kelly Crane, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:21 December 10, 2007
- Casey Affleck stars in in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
- Image Credit:
He's best friends with Joaquin Phoenix and he's worked with some of the biggest names in the business, but Casey Affleck says he is happiest when working with his brother Ben.
Now starring alongside Brad Pitt, Casey takes one of the lead roles in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford - a character-driven account of the last days of the fabled Confederate outlaw.
Early years
Born Caleb Casey Affleck in Falmouth, Massachusetts, to Chris and Timothy, Casey went to George Washington University and later transferred to Columbia University in New York City where he majored in physics, astronomy, and Western philosophy. But his true passion was always for acting.
His first movie role was in Gus Van Sant's 1995 dark comedy To Die For. He played a troubled teenager alongside Joaquin Phoenix and Nicole Kidman. But it was Good Will Hunting which jump-started the careers of both him and his older brother Ben.
Ashamed
But it wasn't all plain sailing from there either. In 2000 Affleck starred in the black comedy Drowning Mona with Bette Midler, Jamie Lee Curtis, Neve Campbell, and Danny DeVito. The movie performed poorly at the box office and with critics and he later admitted in an interview to Nylon magazine that he was ashamed to have been involved with the film.
Good times
However, Affleck followed this up with a re-make of the Rat Pack movie Ocean's Eleven, directed by Steven Soderbergh with the star-studded cast of George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia and Julia Roberts. Affleck played Virgil Malloy, one of a pair of brothers hired to drive the getaway vehicle. He also returned to this character in Ocean's Twelve in 2004, and Ocean's Thirteen, released in June 2007.
After establishing his movie career, Casey turned to screenwriting and teamed up with Matt Damon to write the 2002 film Gerry about two friends who get lost while hiking in the desert, directed by Van Sant. Sticking with family, in 2007 he then appeared as Patrick Kenzie in the critically-acclaimed Gone Baby Gone, which was directed by his brother.
On a personal note
Close friends with Joaquin Phoenix, Affleck was introduced to Summer Phoenix and the couple married after six years on June 3, 2006.
The couple has a son, Indiana August, who was born in Amsterdam on May 31, 2004.
Snapshots
Born: August 12, 1975.
He and his brother have both had on-screen romances with Liv Tyler: Lonesome Jim (2005), Armageddon (1998) and Jersey Girl (2004).
Quotes: "My family would be supportive if I said I wanted to be a Martian, wear only banana skins ... and eat tree bark."
(On his working relationship with brother Ben)
"It was easy mostly because we kind of just spoke the same language and were very comfortable saying to each other, 'I think that's a terrible idea...' or saying 'That's a great idea but what if...?' We could sort of build on each other's excitement. We had a kind of shorthand."
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