‘Manchester by the Sea’ Star Casey Affleck Brings Home the Golden Globe for Amazon

Last year at the Golden Globes, Amazon made headlines for winning big on the TV side with Mozart in the Jungle. This year, the movie awards saw Amazon’s biggest triumph, as Manchester by the Sea star Casey Affleck won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama.

It’s been almost a year since Manchester by the Sea premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Amazon Studios saw the rapturous reception to Kenneth Lonergan’s film and made it their big pick-up of the year. That investment paid off in a big way tonight.  This marks Amazon’s first major win in a movie category at the Globes and a huge step forward for the studio as it looks to make its mark among the big boys.

Affleck bested some big competition to win, including Denzel Washington (Fences), Andrew Garfield (Hacksaw Ridge), Viggo Mortensen (Captain Fantastic), and Joel Edgerton (Loving). His was the sole win for Manchester, which was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actress.

Affleck thanked his director, Kenneth Lonergan, calling him “a treasure to all of us, to people who like movies and work in movies.” He also gave a shout out to his co-star, Michelle Williams, who shared the screen with him during Manchester‘s most emotionally intense scenes. “I wish that Michelle could be on stage with me,” Affleck said.  “Because she made most of it work. She’s perfect.”

Affleck also had a note of thanks to Matt Damon, who was a producer on the show and who passed on the lead role in the film before Affleck got it. “I suspect you won’t be passing on any more movies in the future when I might be anywhere nearby,” he said as Damon laughed.

Manchester remains very well-positioned for Oscar nominations when they are announced on January 24th. Affleck is currently the frontrunner for the Best Actor award there as well.