For the most part, Oscar-winning actor Casey Affleck has fallen off the face of the Earth after his Best Actor win at the 2017 Academy Awards. The main reason for his absence is the fact that during the campaign for his Oscar win, stories of past sexual harassment claims were brought back to light. And now, almost 2 years later, with the rise of #MeToo, the actor is discussing his past and how he has changed since then.
For a quick recap, back in 2010, Affleck was sued by two former female colleagues from the set of his film “I’m Still Here.” Both lawsuits claimed that Affleck was responsible for unwelcome sexual advances and verbal abuse. There are various details about the words he allegedly used to describe the women and how both women were eventually retaliated against by the filmmaker. Eventually, Affleck settled both suits out of court.
And in a new interview with the AP, the Oscar winner discusses those claims and how, over the last couple years, he’s learned from his mistakes.
“First of all, that I was ever involved in a conflict that resulted in a lawsuit is something that I really regret. I wish I had found a way to resolve things in a different way. I hate that. I had never had any complaints like that made about me before in my life and it was really embarrassing and I didn’t know how to handle it and I didn’t agree with everything, the way I was being described, and the things that were said about me, but I wanted to try to make it right, so we made it right in the way that was asked at the time,” he began.
He continued, “I kind of moved from a place of being defensive to one of a more mature point of view, trying to find my own culpability. And once I did that I discovered there was a lot to learn.”
Affleck goes on to say that he takes responsibility for his actions and wishes he would have acted differently, “And I contributed to that unprofessional environment and I tolerated that kind of behavior from other people and I wish that I hadn’t. And I regret a lot of that.”
“But I behaved in a way and allowed others to behave in a way that was really unprofessional. And I’m sorry,” he concludes.
Affleck will next be seen in the upcoming David Lowery film, “The Old Man and the Gun,” starring alongside Robert Redford, who will retire from acting after the film.
And if you want to watch the entire interview, the AP has a video: