Matt Damon has reflected on the turning point that pushed him and Ben Affleck to write Good Will Hunting.
Speaking on Complex’s GOAT Talk with his The Odyssey co-star Tom Holland, Damon said that one career disappointment in the mid-1990s ended up becoming the spark for one of Hollywood’s most famous screenwriting success stories.
Before either actor became a household name, both were still trying to break through in Hollywood and struggling to land major opportunities.
What looked like a disappointment at the time ended up steering them toward the project that would change their careers.
Speaking with his The Odyssey co-star Tom Holland for Complex’s GOAT Talk, Damon said missing out on one particular part became a major wake-up call.
The role was Aaron Stampler in Primal Fear, which was ultimately awarded to Edward Norton.
Damon said the experience made it clear that waiting for the right part was not enough, and that he and Affleck needed to create an opportunity for themselves.
“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,” Damon said.
“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, and 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.”
Norton’s performance in Primal Fear became his breakout, earning him a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Just a year later, Good Will Hunting arrived in 1997 after Damon and Affleck had spent years developing the script. The film also featured Robin Williams, who played Sean Maguire, the therapist to Damon’s character, Will Hunting.
The movie went on to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, while Williams took home Best Supporting Actor.
Damon said the lesson stayed with him, especially when it came to understanding how difficult it is to get started in the industry.
“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.”
The conversation has drawn fresh attention because Damon, now one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, was looking back on the same period that helped launch both his and Affleck’s careers. In hindsight, the rejection that stung at the time helped push them toward writing the screenplay that became their breakthrough.
Reaction from viewers was divided, with some saying Norton was unquestionably the right choice, while others focused on how the loss helped shape Damon and Affleck’s path.
A TikTok user wrote under a clip of the interview: ” Edward Norton was f******phenomenal in that role.”
Another said: ” Edward Norton owned that role. I would hesitate watching a remake.”
Someone else wrote: ” He had his moment in Crowded Room.”