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Casey Affleck<\/a> is gearing up to celebrate his birthday on Aug. 12 — which is just three days before his big brother <\/span>Ben Affleck<\/a> celebrates his own birthday — and he’s looking to reclaim the day after years of sharing the spotlight.<\/span><\/p>\n Casey walked the red carpet at the New York Premiere of <\/span>his new film The Instigators<\/em><\/a> at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Wednesday, and he spoke with ET’s Rachel Smith about his upcoming 49th birthday — and how he always had to share the festivities with Ben.<\/span><\/p>\n “We<\/span> had<\/span><\/em> to, all growing up,” Casey explained. “We got one birthday party between the two of us.”<\/span><\/p>\n So is that a tradition that they’ve kept going into adulthood? According to Casey, “Not so much.”<\/span><\/p>\n “Once we had kids, like, my birthday became not so important, you know? And it was always about them,” he explained. “But now that they’re moving out of the house, maybe I should reclaim that…\u00a0[This year] I’m throwing myself a birthday party!”<\/span><\/p>\n Casey, who is currently in a <\/span>long-term relationship with actress\u00a0Caylee Cowan<\/a> — shares two sons with his ex-wife,\u00a0Summer Phoenix — <\/span>20-year-old Indiana<\/a> and 16-year-old Atticus.<\/span><\/p>\n Ben, meanwhile, shares three children with ex-wife <\/span>Jennifer Garner<\/a> — daughters Violet, 19, and Seraphina, 15, and son Samuel, 12.<\/span><\/p>\n Looking toward the future, with his birthday around the corner and the big 5-0 next year, Casey says he wants to continue to challenge himself when it comes to his work.<\/span><\/p>\n “I really just want to keep working with people I love and some people I’ve not had a chance to work with, but focus less on trying to climb the ladder, trying to achieve things, and focus more on personal work and my own challenges that I want to work on and work with people I like and have a good time,” he explained. “[I’m interested in] seeing if I can dig deeper into being a writer and a director and actor and see what else is out there — before it’s all gone and it’s all AI and TikTok.”<\/span><\/p>\n It’s for this reason that <\/span>The Instigators<\/span><\/em> proved to be such a fruitful and rewarding project for Casey.<\/span><\/p>\n