— -- Casey Affleck is a favorite to win the Oscar for best actor for his leading role in "Manchester by the Sea."
Affleck, 41, plays Lee Chandler, who is dealing with the death of his brother and the tragedies of his past.
"Most movies ... the script isn't given that much love," Affleck said in an interview on ABC News' "Popcorn with Peter Travers." "When I read it, I didn't stop. I turned the first page, and I was really moved. It's also really, really funny."
Here are five things to know about the Oscar-nominated actor.
He and his brother Ben Affleck give each other acting tips.
Affleck said he and his brother Ben “sometimes” share acting advice with each other.
“I don’t know how it ended up this way, but I have a lot of close friends and family who are in the same business that I’m in,” Affleck said. “It’s really been great for me … it’s kept me closer to my family and friends who are actors, who I’ve known for years and years and years, because I know what’re they’re doing. I understand what their life is. I know what it’s like to go away for a few months and be on a movie set.”
He met his good friend Joaquin Phoenix on the set of “To Die For.”
Before Affleck and Phoenix collaborated on collaborated on the 2010 film “I’m Still Here,” the two first met on the set of “To Die For,” which was one of Affleck’s first major films.
Affleck was also previously married to Summer Phoenix, Joaquin Phoenix’s sister.
He likes to read movie scripts, even if he’s not acting in them.
“It would be hard to be a painter and not look at other paintings,” Affleck explained. “I feel the same way about acting. I like to look at other people’s work. I like to know what’s being made. I like to read a lot.”
When he was a teen, the movies “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Glory” motivated him to become an actor.
“When I was a teenager and I was watching movies, I just thought, ‘I want to be in one of those,’” Affleck said.
He loved “Lawrence of Arabia,” because the film made him think, “I want to be in that story. I want to be that man and know what he’s thinking, and I want to do those scenes,” said Affleck.
He got turned down several times for his Oscar-nominated role in “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.”
Affleck said he only got the role because they were willing to let the film’s director cast who he wanted to cast.
“I auditioned so many times, I can’t tell you. And every single time after every single audition, they told me ‘I’m sorry. You didn’t get it,’” Affleck said. “And I’d say, ‘I’d like to audition again.’ They said, ‘You have to just let this go.”
But eventually Affleck said he recorded himself on tape auditioning for the role and gave it to the director, who finally gave him the part.
