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Regarded as one of those companions with the most beautiful bromance ever, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck have not only proven their friendship off-screen but also on-screen as well, encouraging each other and giving each other the boost required for their careers. And the 1997 movieGood Will Hunting,written by them together, is the perfect example of the same.
But while the movie received critical acclamation worldwide, even winning the pair an Oscar along with establishing a firmly reputed position for them in Hollywood, before the movie was made both Damon and Affleck were desperately praying for A-listers to star in their movie to give it the leverage it required to become successful.
Also Read:“Watching people come out crying”: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Went Through Torture For Months After Getting Rejected From Robin Williams’ Oscar-Winning Movie
Matt Damon And Ben Affleck Were Desperate For An A-Lister To Star InGood Will Hunting
Also Read:“They really wanted to take it away from us”: Sylvester Stallone Helped Matt Damon Get His Dream $225M Movie With Ben Affleck That Was Nearly Stolen by Leonardo DiCaprio
Tired of being passed around for smaller roles in Hollywood,Matt DamonandBen Affleckcame to the decision that they’ll earn their fame by writing a movie by themselves in which they could easily star in the lead roles without even going through the bothersome audition process. But while this sounded easy, it wasn’t so in real life.
To make their movie successful and worth buying, they needed an A-lister’s name in it. For this, they added the role of Sean Maguire in their movie, keeping the role ofHarvey Keitelin Quentin Tarantino’s movie in mind because he was at the peak of his fame at the time, for any elite actor from the entertainment industry who would be interested in starring in it.
“We were looking for an actor that could get us money because Ben and I wanted to star in the movie and we knew we were worth nothing. So we needed to get [a big name involved]. We wrote [the role] really open-ended because we wanted to cast as wide a net as possible because we were just trying to get the movie made… We knew we could adjust it if Morgan Freeman or Denzel Washington wanted to come and play it… If Meryl Streep took the part instead of a father-son relationship it could be a mother-son relationship,”Damon said in an interview withGQ
But while they were desperate for Hollywood hotshots likeMorgan Freeman,Denzel Washington, or evenMeryl Streepto end up with an important role in their movie, it didn’t quite end up that way and they were left with Robin Williams to star in their movie instead.
Also Read:“We knew we were worth nothing”: Matt Damon and Ben Affleck Didn’t Want Robin Williams Originally for Their Oscar-Winning $225M Movie Because of Quentin Tarantino
How Robin Williams Ended Up Working With Them Instead
The character of Sean Maguire finally found its portrayer as it landed onFrancis Ford Coppola, who recommended Matt Damon and Ben Affleck to cast Robin Williams in the role.
“Robin had just done Jack with Francis Ford Coppola,”Damon revealed in an interview withBoston.“When he read the script and really liked it, his one question for Coppola was, ‘Who are these guys?'”
Like other veterans, Williams too was quite taken with the part, finding it hard to say no to it.
“I read it and went, ‘This is really extraordinary,'”Robin Williams said in the same interview. “The Sean character had such history that I was going, ‘Where did it come from?’ I found out later that it’s based on Matt’s mother and Ben’s father, kind of a synthesis of the two.”
Just like that, the Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, andRobin WilliamsstarrerGood Will Huntingwent into production and became a masterpiece on the big screen, winning best friends an Oscar for Best Original Screenplayand the latter for Best Actor in a Supporting Role,despite him not being the initial choice for the movie.
You can watchGood Will Huntingon Amazon Prime Video.
Mahin Sultan
Senior Writer
Articles Published :2478
Mahin Sultan is a Senior Writer at FandomWire, where she brings a fresh perspective to entertainment news. Having been in the field for over 3 years now, she has already written more than 2,000 articles across a variety of niches, from entertainment to health and fashion. This diverse experience has allowed her to quickly build a solid foundation and a deep understanding of the industry.
