TIFF 2016: CASEY AFFLECK GETS OSCAR BUZZ FOR HIS PERFORMANCE IN “MANCHESTER BY THE SEA”

Casey Affleck is getting Oscar buzz surrounding his dramatic performance in Manchester by the Sea, co-starring Michelle Williams.

Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams and Kyle Chandler star in this emotional man who must face his painful past when he returns to his Massachusetts hometown after the sudden death of his brother.

In the drama, Lee  is the resident handyman for a small apartment complex in a Boston suburb. He spends his time doing mundane maintenance and evenings alone in his basement apartment or nursing a beer at his local, where he’ll pick a fight with anyone who throws a glance his way.

When he receives the news that his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler) has died of a congenital heart condition and that, to his unpleasant surprise, he’s been appointed legal guardian of Joe’s teenage son, Patrick (Lucas Hedges), Lee returns to his nearby seaside hometown, a place of both cherished and painful memories.

Playing Lee Chandler was no easy task for Affleck, who seems to have grabbed some of the first Oscar buzz at this year’s TIFF. Affleck admits sinking into character was emotionally draining for the star.

“It was hard. I’ve done some movies where the head space would be a terrible place to live, if you’re trying to inhabit the role in some way, just to go to work and do scenes every day where you’re, like, a violent person or you’re in a lot of pain or something. No matter what kind of an actor you are, I think that would get to you after a while,” he told Variety. “With this one, working with Kenny (Kenneth Lonergan, director) and all the conversations we had about it just sort of sunk me into it a bit. It was kind of a sad month or two months or whatever it was to shoot it. It was a hard place to be, because there aren’t many moments when [the character] sort of expresses the things that he’s feeling in the movie, which would give you some sense of release. He really holds onto it. And I can understand that sometimes. You feel like you want to punish yourself with the feeling. You don’t deserve to go around blubbering about something because it’s your fault, and just holding onto the pain. And then it will just come out suddenly as the dam breaks.”

Despite the sudden loss of his father, and in stark contrast to his uncle, Patrick is full of life. A popular student, he juggles hockey, band practice, and two girlfriends. As this mismatched pair stumbles through the mundane details of estate planning and the awkward strain of adolescence, Lee is forced to confront his past, revealed seamlessly through flashbacks, and the realities of his present.

Manchester By The Sea premieres during TIFF 2016.