Casey Affleck Asks Matt Damon to Direct His Movies 'Every Time I Get a Script,' but He Always Says No

"I wish that Matt would direct because he understands movie making so well and he is such a good writer," Affleck said of his longtime friend

Casey Affleck wants Matt Damon to direct his movies — but his longtime friend always declines.

While Affleck, 48, appeared on SiriusXM's Literally with Rob Lowe podcast Thursday, Aug. 8, to promote his new movie with Damon, 53, The Instigators, the Academy Award-winning actor shared that Damon always turns down his offers to step behind the camera.

"I wish that Matt would direct because he understands movie making so well and he is such a good writer," Affleck told host Rob Lowe during the appearance. "Every time I get a script, I send it to him to direct, including Instigators. I sent it to him and I said, 'Would you direct this?' And, like as always, he said no."

Damon and Affleck, who have known each other since their childhood in Boston, have collaborated a number of times since their careers took off with 1997's Good Will Hunting, which Damon co-wrote with Casey's older brother Ben Affleck.

Damon even produced The Instigators, as well as Casey's 2016 hit Manchester by the Sea, which Casey won the Oscar for best actor for. Still, he has never directed a movie, despite working for more than 30 years in the film industry.

Related: Matt Damon Says His 43-Year Friendship with Casey Affleck Is Based on 'Trust and Love' (Exclusive)

While Damon has never commented on why he does not choose to direct movies himself, Casey shared on Lowe's podcast that he thinks "it's partly the time commitment."

"He likes to work and he wants to go from one to the next. And I think he has, he wants to do a lot of things and he thinks, I don't wanna be on one thing for 18 months," Casey said. "Then also — maybe he's waited so long that he thinks it has to be perfect. He's never said that, and I don't mean that as a slight, but I think he's just like, he has to find something that is perfect."

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During the podcast appearance, Casey shared that he thinks if Damon should ever direct a movie, he will "make it great" — no matter what he does. "And so, I try to get him to direct things all the time," he added. "And he says no."

Related: Matt Damon Says He Often Gets Into 'Creative Arguments' with Casey and Ben Affleck But 'Egos Don't Get Involved' (Exclusive)

Casey additionally shared during a recent interview with ExtraTV that he recruited Damon's wife, Luciana Damon, to convince the Jason Bourne star to sign on to The Instigators soon after he initially sent Matt the script. "I hit Lucy up and she was like, 'I read it. It's great. I think Matt should do it,' " he recalled. "I said, 'How do we get it done?' She was like, 'I'll work on him,' and that was it."

The Instigators begins streaming Aug. 9 on Apple TV+.

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