Good Will Hunting - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[frederick]

At a WGA seminar in 2003, William Goldman denied the persistent rumor that he was the actual writer of Good Will Hunting: "I would love to say that I wrote it. Here is the truth. In my obit it will say that I wrote it. People don't want to think those two cute guys wrote it. What happened was, they had the script. It was their script. They gave it to Rob (Reiner) to read, and there was a great deal of stuff in the script dealing with the F.B.I. trying to use Matt Damon for spy work because he was so brilliant in math. Rob said, "Get rid of it." They then sent them in to see me for a day. I met with them in New York, and all I said to them was, "Rob's right. Get rid of the F.B.I. stuff. Go with the family, go with Boston, go with all that wonderful stuff.", and they did. I think people refuse to admit it because their careers have been so far from writing, and I think it's too bad. I'll tell you who wrote a marvelous script once, Sylvester Stallone. Rocky's a marvelous script. God, read it, it's wonderful. It's just got marvelous stuff, and then he stopped suddenly, because it's easier being a movie star and making all that money, than going in your pit and writing a script. But I did not write Good Will Hunting, alas. I would not have written the "It's not your fault" scene. I'm going to assume that 148 percent of the people in this room have seen a therapist. I certainly have, for a long time. Hollywood always has this idea that it's this shrink with only one patient. I mean, that scene with Robin Williams gushing and Matt Damon and they're hugging, "It's not your fault, it's not your fault." I thought, Oh God, Freud is so agonized over this scene. But Hollywood tends to do that with therapists." When Goldman died, his November 16, 2018, New York Times obituary did mention the rumor, but also debunked it, using Goldman's own words from the same WGA seminar: "Mr. Goldman was also a sought-after script doctor, well known for his uncredited work. He was widely believed to have written the script for "Good Will Hunting," the 1997 film that won Matt Damon and Ben Affleck the Oscar for best original screenplay. He denied it. 'I would love to say that I wrote "Good Will Hunting,"' Mr. Goldman said at a Writers Guild of America seminar in 2003. 'But I did not write it, alas.'"

[javier]

Both Matt Damon being cast as the lead in The Rainmaker (1997), and Robin Williams signing onto the film had led to it getting fast tracked for production.

[scarlett]

The phone number printed on the sign for the construction company that they are working for is the actual phone number of a Woburn, Massachusetts construction company that Matt Damon worked for while going to high school in Cambridge.

[steve]

According to Matt Damon, Robin Williams' best addition is the last line of the film.

[chris]

The film cast includes four Oscar winners: Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and Casey Affleck; and one Oscar nominee: Minnie Driver.

[harry]

Matt Damon, a former Harvard student, originally intended to make the title character a physics prodigy. He discussed his idea with Sheldon L. Glashow, a Nobel laureate in physics, and at the time a Harvard professor. Glashow told him that the premise did not ring true to him, and suggested that the main character be a math prodigy instead. He referred Damon to his brother-in-law, Daniel Kleitman, a professor of mathematics at M.I.T., who provided advice on the story. Glashow and Kleitman are thanked in the credits.

[wesley]

After Matt Damon and Ben Affleck sold their script to Castle Rock, it was printed in Daily Variety that they were going to get $600,000 for it. By using a copy of the Daily Variety, because Affleck and Damon had no credit at the time, they rented a house that was $3,000 a month.