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Casey Affleck has called his Oscar win “mildly traumatic.”
Affleck, 51, took home the best actor trophy at the 2017 ceremony for his performance in Kenneth Lonergan’s drama Manchester by the Sea. But he wasn’t expecting his name to be called that night.
He recalled to Variety in a new interview: “I was expecting Denzel Washington to win [for Fences]. It was a terrifying moment to have to stand on that stage. I can’t remember anything I said. But I do remember that I didn’t thank all the people you are supposed to thank. I didn’t thank Kenneth, didn’t thank my kids who encouraged me to make the movie and supported me the whole time.
“It was mildly traumatic,” he continued.
“I remember walking off the stage and seeing Leonardo DiCaprio standing in the wings. I was still stuck in a moment of terror and disorientation, and he was just laughing and gave me a big hug. Then I felt better.”
Affleck’s Oscar-winning performance was widely praised. In a four-star review for The Independent, Geoffrey Macnab noted Affleck’s “superb Method-style performance.”
Macnab wrote: “Affleck plays Lee with a pained, bewildered look in his eyes. There is a very telling moment early on in which a customer berates him and he swears at her (’I don’t give a f*** what you do, Mrs. Olsen.’) For all his seeming aggression, his manner is fatalistic. He goes about his tasks in an efficient but robotic way, shunning all human contact, but we can sense his pain.”
Affleck was previously nominated for a supporting actor Oscar for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007). In addition to his Oscar-nominated roles, he’s also appeared in A Ghost Story (2017) and Light of My Life (2019).
One of his newest projects, a drama titled Company, stars his mother, son, and partner.
Affleck’s mother, Chris, died before she could see the finished product. Chris died in June following a December 2025 pancreatic cancer diagnosis.
The film, which Affleck dedicated to his parents, premiered earlier this month at the Venice Film Festival.
“I would rather just work with the people I love. I highly recommend it,” Affleck told Variety about making Company. “For many years, I would leave them, shoot the film and miss them. Now, I plan on including my friends and my family as much as possible.”
