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

This fall, Casey Affleck finally emerges from being Ben Affleck's younger brother to being recognized as a first-rate actor in his own right with a pair of contrasting performances in two high-profile fall films. In the award-winning The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Affleck is the notorious gunman who shot the legendary bandit – played by Brad Pitt – in the back. Jesse James was filmed two years ago and was originally intended to open last fall but the 150-minute drama written and directed by Andrew Dominik was not finished in time. For Affleck, that was brilliant luck for it lets moviegoers see him weeks later as the Boston detective at the center of Gone Baby Gone, adapted and directed by his brother Ben from the same-titled novel by Mystic River novelist Dennis Lehane.