Casey Affleck regrets disrespectful awards season conduct

Casey Affleck regrets being disrespectful about awards season.

The 48-year-old actor received a number of award nominations, including Oscars, the Golden Globes, and Screen Actors Guild, for his role in 2007's 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' and he admitted he wishes he had taken it more seriously.

Speaking on The Hollywood Reporter‘s 'It Happened in Hollywood' podcast, he said: "I was chewing gum at some award show and people said, ‘Who does this little punk think he is? Like he’s on camera chewing gum at the SAG Awards.’ And that I wasn’t taking it seriously enough. … I see now that I could have been more respectful because it does mean something.

“It means something to be acknowledged by your peers, who are a group of hardworking, very talented people. By and large, our community is really, really great people. That was our office Christmas party. Those are our industry celebrations, and I guess I could have been more deferential and respectful and not chewed gum or done the campaigning or something.”

Casey claims his rudeness was because he had a new baby at home - son Atticus who was born in January 2008 - and he didn't want to be away from him.

The actor - who also has daughter Indiana, 20, with ex-wife Summer Phoenix - said he was reluctant to "put on a suit and be on a TV show where you’re a contestant for something. … So the stress outweighed the pleasure and it outweighed my desire to be there. I wanted to be home with my new baby."

Casey later won an Oscar and Golden Globe for his work in 2016's 'Manchester by the Sea'.

He said: "Whatever cynicism I might have had, boy, it melts away pretty quickly when you’re standing up there, and you look out at people who you’ve admired for a long time and whose work you’ve watched since you were young and you see their face looking back at you."