Smart brother Ben Affleck

Oct 8, 2007, 7:00 GMT

Ben Affleck cast his brother Casey in 'Gone Baby Gone' to make himself look "smart".

The 'Smokin' Aces' actor gave his younger sibling a lead role in his directorial debut so he could take the credit when it shot him to stardom.

Ben, 35, said: "I cast him because I was lucky to get him. And I got to look smart. I got to be the guy who can say, 'I can show people how good he really is.' "

The brothers claim to have had an almost telepathic understanding on the set of the film, which sees 32-year-old Casey star as a private eye investigating the apparent kidnapping of a four-year-old girl.

Ben says: "We had a level of communication that made it easy. I'd say, 'Do this thing like Mr. So-and-So,' and he understood what it meant."

Casey agrees: "We had a shorthand. When we didn't agree, there was no pressure. We talked about it."

'Gone Baby Gone' will hit cinema screens worldwide later this month.

However, its release in the UK has been delayed indefinitely because it was considered insensitive to bring out a movie with similarities to the high-profile disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine McCann from a Portuguese tourist resort in May.

(C) BANG Media International