Casey Affleck had a hard time adjusting to the awards circuit scene, often coming across ungrateful for the accolades.
Sometimes a certain breed of male actors can come off beyond disinterested in the whole Hollywood thing, despite working their butts off to get where they are. Maybe it’s some mumbling or not committing to interviews or the smacking of gum, but whatever it is they do, it comes across like they think they are just too cool for it all. That’s something that Casey Affleck had to come to terms with when he came across as ungrateful when making the circuit for 2007’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.
Casey Affleck had been thrust into the awards circuit for playing Ford in Andrew Dominik’s western, garnering nominations from the Academy Awards, the Screen Actors Guild, the Golden Globes, and more. And while Affleck did turn out for a number of events, he tended to come off like he just didn’t want to be there. “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.”
Casey Affleck would go on to say that snubbing the praise and open arms of Hollywood in a way he had never seen was rightfully seen as disrespectful. “It means something to be acknowledged by your peers, who are a group of hardworking, very talented people. 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.”
While Casey Affleck would lose Best Supporting Actor to Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men, he would go on to win the Best Actor Oscar for 2016’s Manchester by the Sea. That honor would put him in a position to choose where and when he would be seen. That included the following year’s ceremony, which he opted out presenting Best Actress at following sexual assault allegations against him.
How do you think Casey Affleck came across during this time? Do you think he has matured since? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.