Casey Affleck has cemented himself among Hollywood’s most compelling actors, known for his nuanced portrayal of complex characters. He is widely recognized for his dedication to his craft, as he often pushed boundaries to deliver as authentic performances as possible.
However, this commitment does not always work the way he wants, which he experienced while filming a scene in Gone Baby Gone.
Casey Affleck Reflected on Filming a Scene for Gone Baby Gone
Released in 2007, Casey Affleck starrer Gone Baby Gone garnered positive remarks from critics and audiences alike. It was the same year when he got his breakthrough from working on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, followed by this project.
With everyone’s eyes on what magic he would bring on-screen, he made sure to bring a deep sense of authenticity in his portrayal of Patrick Kenzie.
While talking to Collider Interviews, the actor reflected upon the hardest scene in his career, which happened while he was working on a particular scene for the crime-thriller movie.
He recounted the sequence that required him to react to the discovery of a child’s dead body because the reaction was not “scripted as being anything one way or the other.” Instead of the body, the prop team used a dummy for him to visualize the scene.
I saw the dummy that they were using, and it was just so horrible, I thought it would be upsetting. I would vomit. So, I said, ‘I think this is what’s going to happen; I’m going to vomit.’ I didn’t want to do it with a can of soup or some tube behind my head. I wanted to be able to do it—turn around, do it.
After witnessing the dummy, he instantly thought of the reaction that he wanted to execute for the sequence, but things were about to get more difficult for the actor.
Casey Affleck’s Plan to Puke in Gone Baby Gone Sequence Went Wrong
Once deciding what he wanted for that sequence, he opted for a natural approach to induce vomiting.
Rather than relying on special effects or props to showcase that part, he started consuming large amounts of food and liquid to do the scene himself. In the interview, he shared,
So, I just ate a lot of—I filled my stomach and then I drank as much liquid as I could. But I’ve got a really strong stomach for some reason. So, I went up there and it was like take after take of trying to vomit, and then it didn’t work.
He hoped that heavy consumption of food and drinks would make it easier to vomit on cue but found himself struggling to achieve what he wanted for the shot. He continued to share that he tried to vomit for numerous takes but nothing worked.
So, I put in more liquid and more food, just trying, and then tried to sort of finger gag, and it was kind of like, ‘Damn it, that’s not going to work. We’re going to have to figure something else out.’ But I had determined to have that be what felt like the real response.
The process became grueling for him, who kept on taking more food and liquid intake for the scene but things weren’t going positively. At one point, during a pause in filming to reset the camera to try a different way for the shot, he finally puked.
It just rose up on me, and I puked while they were moving the camera, just like a gallon. So, that was enormously difficult physically, and also, I felt like a disappointment, so it was hard on me.
That experience proved to be both physically and emotionally taxing for the actor as he hoped to deliver an authentic performance but ended up feeling disappointed.
Nevertheless, it also showcased his unwavering commitment to bringing the best to the screen, ensuring a performance that would resonate with audiences.
Gone Baby Gone is available on Prime Video.
