Matt Damon Gave up An Oscar Winning Role to Casey Affleck

Matt Damon reflected on this critically acclaimed 2016 drama, and how he felt about Casey Affleck in the role.

Matt Damon maybe could’ve added another Oscar under his belt if the circumstances turned out differently. He was initially tapped to star in this highly praised drama, but his longtime friend Casey Affleck ended up with the role instead.

Matt Damon once shared how he lost ‘Manchester by the Sea’ to Casey Affleck

Affleck hit a career high after starring in the 2016 feature Manchester by the Sea. The film, which was about a grieving blue collar worker and his teenage nephew, garnered a lot of attention from the Academy. It even earned Affleck his first Oscar for Best Actor in 2017.

But initially, the film was a small nugget of an idea that Damon and The Office star John Krasinski came up with. They took their idea to screenwriter Kenny Lonergan, who Damon had already worked with before. The original plan was for Damon to film the project before he thought it’d be better to star in it.

Unfortunately for Damon, scheduling issues prevented him from doing the movie.

“John Krasinski and I originally commissioned Kenny to write Manchester By the Sea, because I was going to direct it,” Damon once told Men’s Journal. “When I read the script, I went to Kenny and said: ‘You have to direct it. This is a Kenny Lonergan movie.’ So I was going to play the main role, but The Martian was starting, and I just couldn’t get it in. So Casey took over, and that turned out okay. With directing, it’s still something I’m interested in. I’m just looking for the perfect project to do it.”

If The Martian hadn’t gotten in the way, Manchester by the Sea might’ve seen Damon receive his fifth nomination and second win. But perhaps Affleck was just the perfect actor for the role.

Why Matt Damon really enjoys working with Casey Affleck

Damon and Affleck have collaborated quite a few times over the years, although the screen time in their movies could vary. They’ve worked closely together on projects like Good Will Hunting and Gerry. They were also in films such as Interstellar, Oppenheimer, and the Ocean’s franchise. But they shared little to no screentime on the three of them.

In an interview with Vanity Fair, Damon confided why Affleck was so inspiring to work with.

“Casey is one of the most creatively tenacious people that I have ever met,” Damon said. “He really cares and thinks deeply about every single thing he says and does on the screen. He’s meticulous about his preparation and deeply reflective about it. I even accuse him of overthinking sometimes because he cares so much.”

His work ethic, and their friendship which spans deades, are some of the reasons why the pair are always trying to work together.

“We have been in each other’s lives for 43 years, so any excuse to try to find something that we can do together, we’ll jump on it. It’s just very hard to find material that would support us being together onscreen,” Damon said.

Damon also confided that he felt inspired watching Affleck grow into such a capable actor over the years. Although Affleck is younger than Damon, Damon still learns from his The Instigator co-star.

“It’s strange when you watch somebody grow up who’s a little bit younger than you,” he said. “When I was a teenager, he was an adolescent. He was always around, and he was there with me into my 20s. Then suddenly I woke up and realized that this kid was one of the best actors I had ever seen. It all happened in front of my eyes. I learn a lot from him every time I work with him. He pushes me really hard, and I love that.”