Best Supporting Actor

Casey Affleck (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford)

After years of honing his skills with small, yet memorable, roles in movies like To Die For and Good Will Hunting, first-time Oscar® nominee Casey Affleck had a breakout 2007.

Casey reprised his supporting role as one of the bungling Malloy brothers in the star-studded Ocean's Thirteen and starred as a troubled private investigator in his brother Ben's directing debut, Gone Baby Gone.

Casey's Oscar nomination comes for his third film of 2007—the Western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford—in which he appeared with his Ocean's co-star Brad Pitt. In the film, Casey plays Robert Ford, a resentful member of Jesse James's outlaw gang.

The Academy Awards are a real family affair for Casey. Not only did his brother Ben win an Oscar for writing Good Will Hunting with Matt Damon, but his wife's brothers—Joaquin Phoenix and the late River Phoenix—have earned Oscar nominations, as well.