You really can’t talk about Ben Affleck without talking about Matt Damon. The duo will forever be linked together, thanks in no small part to their Oscar-winning turn as co-screenwriters on “Good Will Hunting.” Even though, after that film, they mostly worked on separate projects, they still remained good friends. Where would the world be without the friendship of Affleck and Damon? Sarcasm aside, it appears that the world might not have experienced it in such an overt way if not for Kevin Smith.
Sure, we’ve heard stories about how Kevin Smith helped get “Good Will Hunting” made back in the ‘90s, after working with Affleck on “Mallrats” and “Chasing Amy.” But in a new interview with EW, Matt Damon interviewed Affleck and the two talked about just how instrumental Smith was in making sure the career-defining film was actually financed.
“Kevin also saved Good Will Hunting,” said Damon. “This is not a small side note. He is the reason ‘Good Will Hunting’ got made. We were dead in the water, all the offers had evaporated.”
Affleck added he promised to thank Smith if they won the Oscar, but that didn’t work out. “I promised him I would thank him if we ever got an Oscar and promptly forgot. And then I told him, ‘If I ever win again I swear to God I’m going to thank you.’ Forgot again,” said the actor, who also won an Academy Award for “Argo.”
Later in the discussion, Damon clarifies that it wasn’t JUST Smith who can take credit for getting “Good Will Hunting” made.
He said, “Kevin and Gus [Van Sant, ‘Good Will’s’ director] and Robin [Williams] were equally important. And I think Francis [Ford Coppola] vouched for me with Robin.”
Obviously, even though Kevin Smith hasn’t had an Oscar-winning career like Affleck and Damon, the two teamed up with Smith on projects after “Good Will Hunting” and Affleck even did so most recently in “The Jay & Silent Bob Reboot.”