There’s a moment at the end of Good Will Hunting where Ben Affleck's Chuckie and the rest of the construction crew discover that Matt Damon’s Will Hunting has skipped town to grasp his brainy destiny and follow Minnie Driver’s Skylar. In that scene, Morgan, played by Casey Affleck, excitedly takes over the car seat usually occupied by Will. Now picture that,only with a film role instead of a car, as Affleck has replaced Damon on Kenneth Lonergan’s **Manchester-By-The Sea.
Lonergan is working from a script he wrote that will now find Affleck as a plumber living in Boston who returns home to the titular town when he learns his brother has died. He’s landed with the responsibility of caring for his 16 year-old nephew, but a dark family tragedy from the past comes back to haunt him.
Though Lonergan had been gearing up to shoot before Damon headed to the set of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi drama The Martian, shifting schedules have meant that the actor had to drop out. “Matt can’t do it,” Affleck tells The Boston Globe. “And, you know, if Matt’s not in it, it’ll be good.” It’s a good thing they’re friends...