„… The model of what great film acting should look like.“
Colleagues and critics on Casey Affleck
I think the world of him. He’s a really special, talented guy. Robert Redford
When you point the camera at him he just makes your movie better. Ben Affleck
He’s my best friend. I respect him. I think he’s an amazing and talented actor and filmmaker. It was my dream since we were young to work with Casey. Joaquin Phoenix
We did one of [director Kenneth Lonergan’s] plays in London 14 years ago, and I’ll never forget the day we were on-stage rehearsing and he started telling me how I should play my part. [I made him show me how to play the role]. Then he did it and it was so much better than what I was doing. I had to kind of take his suggestion, but I had to try and hold onto my pride. Matt Damon
He has this long, beautiful monologue about our future. I had read the script so many times at that point and loved that monologue and when we did it together, I never imagined the way he was going to do it, which is very rare. Usually you can imagine how an actor is going to do something, especially if you’ve read it many times. It was so alive and in the moment and that’s what it was like working with him. He’s a fantastic actor. Rooney Mara on working with him on Ain’t them bodies saints
He’s great to work with, because he’s very demanding about all the right things. He really wants to know specifically why something is happening, when it’s happening, why something else isn’t happening, why the character’s manner is like this with one person but not with another person. I love thinking about those things, and I love negotiating. Exploring all those subtleties and specifics with an actor is really fun. Casey brings so much to it and takes the process so seriously but not in an artsy-craftsy way. He takes it seriously in a very nice, simple way. Plus, we like to yell at each other a lot. That’s always fun for me.
Much like the rough, dusty clothing these men wear and the creaky chairs they sit upon, Affleck’s gestures feel ingrained into something larger, more than any performance given in recent American cinema. The performance is a bit of a magic trick, and the best magic tricks don’t go explained; they simply live and breathe before our eyes, even as none of it conforms to comprehension.
Nick Newman, The Filmstage, on his performance in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Casey is just one of the funniest, driest, most brilliant guys I’ve worked with. His performance was completely spontaneous. He’s great. Minnie Driver on working with him on Good Will Hunting
The whole film was upstaged by Affleck in one blistering tirade where he loses his sh*t at big brother Christian Bale, still reeling from his experiences in the War on Terror, and angry at his inability to acquire honest work back after serving his country for so long. Few films have featured such authentic, lived-in portrayals of PTSD and its a testament to Casey Afflecks acting technique that he sells it so well.” Whatculture.com about his performance in Out of the furnace
Watching Casey and working with him, it was really enjoyable because you get to just watch. When he’s working, there’s so much going on. It’s fun to sit across from as another actor and just watch him. And to see the film finally come out, I understand everything he was doing. Kyle Chandler on working with him on Manchester by the sea
Affleck‘s metamorphosis is a devastating feat of self-transformation. He gives a performance of glorious complexity. Jan Stuart, Newsday, about his performance in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Casey is a very, very warm person and very generous and very kind. Kenneth Lonergan
An unsettling, otherworldly performer, Affleck is disturbingly absolute as Ford, possessing a cool-eyed contempt so profound it goes beyond mere Method. Andrew Male on his performance in The Killer Inside me
I love to work with him and I love to watch him on screen. He draws you in. You’re waiting to hear what he’s going to say next. You want to know what he’s thinking. I think he brings a mystery and intensity to every role he plays. Jessica Alba
The specificity of his choices can be so precise, and he doesn’t let up until he arrives where he wants to be, which is the challenging part. When he finally gets there, you realize he has raised the creative bar of the entire project. Summer Phoenix
I don’t want to cry now, but it’s an extraordinarily deep, real performance. It’s unbelievably powerful. Nicole Kidman about his performance in Manchester by the sea
I think that he’s the most beautiful, deep, wonderful, funny, and hard working actor I’ve ever worked with possibly. Kenneth Lonergan
Casey’s been just the sweetest, most amazing man to me and that’s who he always will be to me. I think the world of him and everything he’s ever done for me is just amazing. Lukas Hedges
Casey Affleck ‘s lead performance is, simply put, the model of what great film acting should look like. Drew McWheeny, Hitflix, on his performance in Manchester by the sea
… it’s like working with a wild animal, where you don’t know if you can pet him or he’s gonna bite you… he’s completely unpredictable, an incredible actor… it was a great experience. Woody Harrelson
Casey has this beautiful high-pitched rough voice that speaks innocence, is a genius actor, a live wire. Scott Cooper
He is superb, Casey is someone i was really chasing to play the role, i just kinda felt he’s the only person i wanted to play that, and he really made it worthwhile, and he’s a very unique actor and he does just an incredible job in this. Christian Bale on his performance in Out of the furnace
Choosing [a favorite co-star] would be really tough but I have to say, going back in my career, Casey Affleck is one of the best actors that I’ve ever seen in my life. Growing up with him, he’s 5 years younger than me, he’s kind of like a little brother to me, but watching his work develop over the years has been really fun. Matt Damon
A quietly ferocious performance, his willingness to submerge himself into this character to an almost frightening extent. Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times, on his performance in Manchester by the sea
What I think I learned from Casey is how to truly dedicate yourself to the role, to be there for every single second of the movie being made, ask every question you can possibly ask about every moment. Lucas Hedges
I just love what he’s doing with his company [Sea Change Media], without trumpeting it or creating a lot of fanfare, he’s quietly using whatever currency he has to help other voices be heard and help female filmmakers get their films made. It’s not about him. He’s not putting his name first on these things. He’s really quietly working to help cause a change in the industry in whatever way he can. David Lowery
He’s very loyal and he’s really a great dancer. He keeps this a big secret around everyone, including his brother, but he is a great ballroom dancer. He’s seen that movie Strictly Ballroom almost 80 times, last time I asked. I personally had to sit and watch it more than 10 times because he made me. But you should have seen him at my sister’s wedding. Oh, God, is he good. Gus van Sant
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. David Fear, Rolling Stone, on his performance in Manchester by the sea
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.
David Sims,The Atlantic, about his performance in The Finest Hours
He’s the finest actor I’ve ever worked with. Christian Bale
Comically I think Casey’s a genius. On the first day [of shooting Ocean’s Eleven ], we showed up on set and there wasn’t too much written for our characters. Steven [Soderbergh] just said to go ahead and improvise. So right away, Casey insulted me, and I insulted him back. And that’s how the characters happened. Scott Caan
One of the most persuasive leading men of his generation. Justin Chang, Variety
Casey’s brilliant at standing there and making you wonder what’s going on inside his head. It’s a real quality he has as an actor, and to a certain extent as a person. Michael Winterbottom
He’s just got really high standards. He’s very pure creatively until he runs out of money, like any of us, and he has to do whatever he has to do because he’s got kids. Matt Damon
Indeed, aside from the moments where he loses his temper with professional, social or familial woes, it’s a contained, restrained performance, where a look can say more than a lesser film’s entire screenplay.
Lou Thomas on his performance in Manchester by the sea
I never see him act. Casey always feels like he stumbled on the set. Like he’s surprised to be there. For a moment you wonder if he’s even read the script or he knows what part he’s playing. He’s very kind of droll, and you’re instantaneously sucked into his world and his work. I find him absolutely mesmerizing. I’m sure Casey has an ego, but he’s not worried like a lot of actors are about putting his face front and center on a screen. He’s worried about telling a story. That’s what matters to him. Amy Ryan
He’s got such a beautiful-sounding voice. The voice is the thing that really gets you. Andrew Dominik
I don’t usually show scripts around too much anymore. Manchester I showed to Casey who was very helpful with it. He had one comment about something I was concerned about. I was worried the script was too grim. And the draft I showed him was, in fact, too grim. And he said, “Well, usually when I read something of yours it makes me cry. But this time I felt like you were sitting on my chest and you wouldn’t get off.” And I said that’s exactly how I felt about it. So it was great to have that confirmed. And I did feel it had a naturally suffocating feel to it. Having someone you trust to confirm that for you is enormously helpful. Kenneth Lonergan
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. Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
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. Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
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