20 facts you might not know about 'Good Will Hunting'

Famously Affleck and Damon wrote the script together, but it was not always a project for both of them. In fact, “Good Will Hunting” was originally just Damon’s project. Also, it wasn’t so much a “project” as a school assignment. Damon had to write a play for his playwriting class at Harvard but instead turned out a 40-page script. After that, Damon brought Affleck on board to help him flesh it out, and they finished the first version of the script in 1994.

“Good Will Hunting” as we know it is an emotional drama about a troubled math genius who works as a janitor at MIT who has his life changed when he starts to see a therapist played by Robin Williams. This is quite different from the original version of the movie. Affleck and Damon originally wrote a thriller. It was still about a genius from South Boston, but it primarily focused on him being aggressively recruited by the government.

The script for “Good Will Hunting” was originally bought by Castle Rock, the production company run by Rob Reiner. Reiner was himself no slouch when it came to directing and moviemaking. While the project was at Castle Rock, it was Reiner who suggested they drop all the thriller stuff and focus on Will and his therapist. They also got some advice from director Terrence Malick, who suggested they end the film with Will going out to California to follow Skylar, which is indeed how the movie ends.

William Goldman won two Academy Awards for his screenplays and also wrote films like “Marathon Man” and “The Princess Bride,” the latter of which was based on his own novel. Like a lot of screenwriters, he also worked as a consultant on various projects, and occasionally did script doctor work. Goldman was a consultant on “Good Will Hunting,” which led to a long-standing rumor that he had done heavy doctoring on the script, perhaps even being largely responsible for it. However, Goldman himself has refuted that repeatedly. He said he read the script and basically only reiterated Reiner’s point that they focus more on the therapy aspect of the story.

While Affleck and Damon had done a bit of work as actors, studio executives blanched when they said that they wanted to star as well. They were told that the studio wanted Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio instead. Eventually, Castle Rock put the script in turnaround, which meant if Affleck and Damon couldn’t find a new studio they would lose the script to Castle Rock. Fortunately for the duo, they found footing at Miramax.

Affleck and Damon were down to write and to act, but they weren’t up for directing as well. A couple of the early names bandied about were Mel Gibson and Michael Mann. Affleck approached Kevin Smith, who he had worked with a couple of times already, but Smith turned them down, feeling he wasn’t right for the role. Eventually, they landed on Gus Van Zant, as both Damon and Affleck were fans of his movie “Drugstore Cowboy.”

A lot of “Good Will Hunting” was shot in Toronto, including the scenes set inside MIT and Harvard. However, they also did some exterior shooting in Boston for the film. This included getting to do a bit of shooting at Harvard. Usually, Harvard does not allow filming on campus, but Harvard alum John Lithgow helped twist the university’s arm for the film’s production.

The score for “Good Will Hunting” was provided by Danny Elfman. The soundtrack, though, is dominated by Elliott Smith. Several Smith songs are in the film, including “Miss Misery,” which was nominated for an Oscar. It was up against “My Heart Will Go On.” It did not win.

Part of the reason why Affleck and Damon were able to become such big stars after “Good Will Hunting” is that the movie was a massive success. It was made for only $10 million but brought in $225.9 million worldwide.

In addition to raking in the box-office cash, “Good Will Hunting” racked up Oscar nominations galore. It was nominated for nine awards. Matt Damon and Minnie Driver got acting nominations. Van Sant was up for Best Director. Additionally, “Good Will Hunting” was nominated for Best Picture.

As we already noted, Elliott Smith lost to Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” at the Oscars. That means you know this is the year that “Titantic” dominated the Academy Awards. Despite that, “Good Will Hunting” did manage to pull out two wins. Famously, Affleck and Damon won for Best Original Screenplay. However, Robin Williams, who played therapist Sean Maguire, also won for Best Supporting Actor. It was the late actor’s only Oscar win.

Damon and especially Affleck are no strangers to the films of Kevin Smith. As such, it’s not a surprise they both show up in Smith’s (tepid) Hollywood satire “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” In that film, Damon and Affleck are working on a sequel to “Good Will Hunting” called “Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season.” The film also features Van Sant in a cameo as himself.

It’s probably not surprising that Robin Williams improvised a line or two. His whole thing was stream-of-consciousness riffing. However, you might be surprised to find out that Casey Affleck, who played Morgan, improvised most of his dialogue as well.

Will Hunting is a fan of Howard Zinn’s book “People’s History of the United States.” He even tells Sean to read it. Weirdly enough, when Damon was a kid he and Zinn were actually neighbors, and Damon would later record a book-on-tape for “People’s History.”

In addition to the whole government recruitment thing, early on in the process, Will was not a gifted mathematician, but a physics expert instead. However, upon talking to a Nobel Laureate in Physics they were told it would be better for it to be math as opposed to physics.

Perhaps the quintessential line from “Good Will Hunting” is when Will taunts a Harvard student with “How do you like them apples?” People often say that line with a fake Boston accent and everything. For many, this was the first time they heard that line, but it’s actually an old phrase. In fact, it’s even used in another notable movie, “Chinatown.”

While in the bar, Morgan says, “I swallowed a bug.” It’s a weird line within the context of the film but does make sense as a throwaway joke line. It’s actually a reference to a line from another movie, though. Well, maybe “line” is the wrong word. In the documentary “Hearts of Darkness” – which tells the tale of the fraught production of “Apocalypse Now” – there is a moment when Marlon Brando is doing a scene and then breaks character to say “I swallowed a bug.”

Only four people have ever been nominated for acting and writing in the same year. Damon is one of them. The other three? Charlie Chaplin for “The Great Dictator,” Orson Welles for “Citizen Kane,” and Sylvester Stallone for “Rocky.”

At the end of “Good Will Hunting,” Ben Affleck’s character Chuckie is happy to find that Will has left South Boston to chase after Skyler and to get out of town. Early on, there was the possibility Chuckie wouldn’t be around at all in the film’s conclusion. Van Sant had pitched that Chuckie would die in a construction accident in the movie. Affleck and Damon weren’t fans of the idea but rewrote the script to include Chuckie’s death. Then Van Sant read it and realized it was indeed not a good idea and it was nixed.

Williams’ untimely death was heartbreaking to many of his fans. In the wake of his passing, many fans flocked to the bench in Boston Public Garden that he and Will sit on in the film (and on the movie’s poster). It became a bit of a temporary shrine to Williams for fans who wanted to pay homage to the beloved actor.