Matt Damoncredits an interesting person with his Hollywood success, saying that following the lead of one specific star changed his life.Damon got his start in professional actingwhen he appeared in a minor role inMystic Pizzaand then impressed audiences withhis turn inSchool Ties.However, his true breakout didn’t come until 1997, whenDamon and his friend Ben Affleckwrote and starred in the dramaGood Will Hunting,a movie that won them an Oscar for screenwriting.
However,gettingGood Will Huntingmadewas not an easy task. Damon had been working on the script since he was a student at Harvard. When he was out of school,Damon and Affleck began working to perfect the scriptbefore trying to sell it to studios. They finally optioned it to Castle Rock in 1994, but the movie studio was balking at one thing. It didn’t want Damon and Affleck to take the lead roles. That is where Sylvester Stallone comes into the story.
How Sylvester Stallone Influenced Matt Damon’s Breakout Role Alongside Ben Affleck
Matt Damon Credits Sylvester Stallone For Good Will Hunting’s Success
Sylvester Stallone had a similar start to his career as Matt Damon. He appeared in both smaller roles and more niche movies, but he had big dreams. After seeing the famedboxing match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepnerin 1975, an inspired Stallone wroteRockyin three days. The actor was broke and needed a job, but he refused to accept selling his script for someone else to star in.Stallone refused to accept a dealuntil he found someone who believed he could play Rocky Balboa.
When Matt Damon and Ben Affleck attempted to getGood Will Huntingmade, they heard the same thing. The movie needed bigger stars. Damon refused to cave in and wouldn’t budge until the studio allowed him to star in the film. They finally moved to Miramax, and the rest is history (viaVanity Fair):
“Believe me, they really wanted to take it away from us. They were like, ‘God, Leonardo DiCaprio would be so good in this.' Every time they said, ‘you may’t do this,’ we said, ‘Actually it’s been done once before.’ [Sylvester Stallone’s] story changed my life. He had an incredible amount of courage, and he changed the course of our lives.”
This story was something Damon kept to himself for a long time. He finally made the revelation at the National Board of Review dinner in New York in 2016, an event honoring Sylvester Stallone.Good Will Huntingmight have looked very different if not forRocky’sinfluenceon two young actors.
It’s Hard To Imagine Good Will Hunting Without Damon & Affleck
Damon & Affleck Made Good Will Hunting A Success
While Sylvester Stallone had a lot to do with Matt Damon’s rise in Hollywood, it was Damon and, to a lesser extent, Ben Affleck who madeGood Will Huntingsuch a great success. The three men who made this movie so great were Damon, as the title character, Affleck, as his best friend, andRobin Williams, as Will’s mentor, Sean Maguire.This was a rare serious turn for Williams. Along withDead Poets Society,it remains proof of his amazing acting talent outside comedy.
Matt Damon wrote this script based on his experience as a young man in Boston. No, he isn’t a savant like Will Hunting, but that is only the driving force of the plot.The main story is the friendships between the boys in Boston,with Damon and Affleck providing the backbone of that tale. Seeing Affleck’s proud Chuckie letting his friend go toachieve success in theGood Will Huntingendingwas the best moment of the movie. This was Damon and Affleck’s story, and they deserved to be the ones who told it.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck
“Miss Misery” Elliott Smith
Nominated
The movie received nine Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director (Gus Van Sant), and Best Actor (Matt Damon). It won for Best Screenplay (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) and Best Supporting Actor (Robin Williams). While Williams was spectacular as Sean, Damon’s performance as the young Will Hunting allowed the two actors to deliver a performance of a lifetime.Good Will Huntingis why Matt Damon became a star, and without him, the movie wouldn’t have worked nearly as well.
