The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Oscar History: This is his first nomination. 2008 Scorecard: Affleck won a National Board of Review award, and has been nominated four other times. Before He Hit Oscar: Growing up, the Cambridge, Mass., native was a bit of a hellion in his neighborhood – he threw firecrackers off the library roof. First Response: "It's really nice that people respond to the movie and the performances in the movie," Affleck, 32, told AOL. "I've been in a lot of movies where that's not the case, so it's a nice change."