Why The Casey Affleck Sexual Harassment Allegations Just Won’t Stick

By Allie Jones

Casey Affleck, the 41-year-old younger brother of Ben, is predicted to win an Oscar for his starring role in Kenneth Lonergan’s New England family drama Manchester by the Sea. He posed for the cover of Variety in October, offered himself up for a New York Times profile earlier this month, and appeared on CBS Sunday Morning this weekend to push the narrative that has coalesced around his campaign: He is Boston’s humble, overlooked kid brother who deserves to finally get some recognition for his talent. In each interview, Affleck has insisted that he doesn’t want fame, and that he is hesitant to put himself back in the spotlight after his last Oscars go-round, in 2007, when he was nominated in the supporting-actor category for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. In the Times profile, titled “Casey Affleck Is Making Another Splash, Reluctantly,” Affleck declared, “I have no desire to be famous at all.” Notwithstanding this display of modesty, Affleck is putting himself out there. He’s showing up to interviews with a scraggy new beard “for a role,” spouting off anecdotes from his childhood, and smiling for the paparazzi like never before. Casey Affleck wants an Oscar, and he’s doing what you have to do to get one. Lucky for him, critics are calling him a front-runner.