Affleck was born in Falmouth, Massachusetts. He is the second son of Christine Anne "Chris" (née Boldt), a school district employee and teacher, and Timothy Byers Affleck, a drug counselor, social worker, janitor, auto mechanic, bartender, and former actor with the Theater Company of Boston. Affleck is three years younger than his brother Ben. He has English, Irish, German, Scottish, French, Swiss, Northern Irish (Scotch-Irish), Welsh, and Swedish ancestry. He is a tenth cousin, once removed, of actor Matt Damon, through a common New England ancestor. He was raised in a mostly Episcopalian family. As a child, he had numerous pets, including cats, snakes, guinea pigs and turtles. Affleck went to George Washington University and later transferred to Columbia University in New York City, where he majored in physics, astronomy, and Western philosophy, but never graduated.