Matt Damon has revealed that his hit 1997 film Good Will Hunting was born out of him losing a different movie role.
Speaking to Tom Holland for Complex’s GOAT Talk series, Damon shared that both he and his longtime friend Ben Affleck were up for the role of Aaron Stampler in Primal Fear, which wound up being played by Edward Norton.
“It was actually a real impetus behind us writing Good Will Hunting, because when Ben and I went out for that role, and Edward beat out everybody, and as he should have, he was phenomenal in the movie, and [we] looked at each other, and we were like, there’s never gonna be a role that good that comes down into the category of unknown actor,” Damon said.
“We all can take a shot at it, but it’s, you know, 10,000 people going for this one thing. So we really buckled down and wrote Good Will Hunting a little more desperately.”
Good Will Hunting went on to gain critical acclaim, earning Damon and Affleck the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The late Robin Williams also nabbed a Best Supporting Actor trophy for his role in the film.
Damon told Holland that the entire experience was a lesson in creating your own opportunities out of “necessity” and not waiting in the wings.
“It’s very, very hard, as you know, to break in,” he told Holland. “The hardest jobs to get are the first ones you get.”
Damon and Affleck have continued their creative partnership, most recently starring together in The Rip in January.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Their other recent collaborations include The Last Duel (2021) and Air (2023) — the first film under their Artists Equity label.
Damon, currently starring in Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, recently revealed that there were only a handful of people whose opinions on the film he cared to know — one of whom was Affleck.
The pair have been through “a whole hell of a lot together” in their 45-year friendship, Damon told MTV UK, adding: “He’s one of the great loves of my life, I will say about Ben.”
Damon then recalled how when Affleck saw The Odyssey, “I got a phone call from him that I think I’ve been waiting 45 years to get.”
“He didn’t stop talking for an hour,” he said. “It was like he’d seen the movie 20 times. He got absolutely everything, every detail, he somehow soaked it all in in one viewing.”
Damon previously opened up about his working relationship with both Affleck and his brother Casey. He told People in 2024 that while they are “consistently incredible partners to work with,” they “do get in creative arguments.”
“Those are healthy, and we know each other well enough that our feelings don’t really get involved and our egos don’t get involved.”
