35 Fun Facts About Good Will Hunting

The actor who played Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting had a contract that gave him what?

A share of the gross, which kept growing with ticket sales until Miramax found it cheaper to pull the film from theaters than keep paying it.

Who directed Good Will Hunting?

Gus Van Sant reached the writers through Casey Affleck, whom he had cast in To Die For.

Who plays Billy McBride, one of Will's South Boston friends?

Cole Hauser plays Billy McBride, one of the friends who give Will an old car for his birthday, the car Will later drives to California.

What was Will Hunting's job at MIT?

Janitor was a job the writers knew from home: they drew on family lives, and Affleck's father had worked as a janitor at Harvard.

Which star plays the therapist Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting?

Robin Williams won an Oscar for the role and used his speech to thank 'especially the people of South Boston'.

Where does Sean Maguire teach psychology?

Bunker Hill Community College is where Sean teaches, and his old college roommate Lambeau turns to him after Will mocks the other therapists.

Who plays MIT professor Gerald Lambeau?

Stellan Skarsgård plays Lambeau, the MIT professor who gets Will released on condition that he works with him and sees a therapist.

Who plays Skylar, the Harvard student Will falls for?

Minnie Driver won the part and an Oscar nomination, even though Harvey Weinstein at first did not want her for Skylar.

Where is Skylar planning to go to medical school?

Stanford is why Skylar asks Will to move to California with her, and his cold refusal ends with him admitting he grew up an orphan.

Which agency chased Will in the thriller plot the writers cut from early Good Will Hunting drafts?

The NSA hunted Will in early drafts, until the writers were told the story needed focus and dropped the government thriller for the therapy story.

Which studio first bought the Good Will Hunting script?

Castle Rock bought it in 1994, then put it into turnaround after the writers resisted the director the studio had chosen.

To test whether executives read their drafts, what did the Good Will Hunting writers add?

A sex scene for Will and Sean went unmentioned at the first studio, but Harvey Weinstein told them to cut it, proving he had read the script.

Which director walked the Good Will Hunting script into Harvey Weinstein's office at Miramax?

Kevin Smith, then working with Affleck on Chasing Amy, refused Affleck's plea to direct it himself but got it to Weinstein instead.

Which John Grisham adaptation cast Matt Damon as its lead while Good Will Hunting was stalled at Miramax?

The Rainmaker: when Damon faxed Harvey Weinstein the news, Weinstein told him every Grisham movie made $100 million.

Which actor-director did the writers meet about directing Good Will Hunting after Miramax bought it?

Mel Gibson developed it for a few months until, producer Chris Moore said, Damon asked him to let it go before he and Affleck grew too old for the parts.

What does Will shout through a window at the Harvard student Clark after getting Skylar's number?

Will slams Skylar's number against the glass, and 'How do you like them apples?' further embarrasses Clark after their bar showdown.

Which veteran screenwriter kept denying rumours that he had secretly written Good Will Hunting?

William Goldman said he had met the young writers for just one day, and that he had denied writing it 'over and over'.

Good Will Hunting made Ben Affleck, at 25, the youngest person ever to win which Oscar?

Best Original Screenplay, which he and Damon accepted by thanking their mothers and everybody back in Boston.

Which singer-songwriter wrote 'Miss Misery' for the film and performed it at the Oscars?

Elliott Smith, whose songs Van Sant had used throughout the film, wrote 'Miss Misery' and reluctantly performed it in a white suit at the March 1998 ceremony.

Which song beat 'Miss Misery' to the Best Original Song Oscar?

My Heart Will Go On took the award, and presenter Madonna mocked the foregone result with a sarcastic 'What a shocker!' before reading it.

Who composed the score for Good Will Hunting?

Danny Elfman composed the score, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Original Dramatic Score, and arranged the orchestral version of 'Between the Bars' on the soundtrack.

Which sporting event did Sean give up tickets to on the night he met his wife?

Game 6 of the 1975 World Series, with Carlton Fisk's famous 12th-inning home run, is the game Sean skipped, telling his friends he had to go 'see about a girl'.

What are the last words of Good Will Hunting, improvised on set by the actor playing Sean?

Son of a bitch stole my line is Sean's unscripted reply to Will's farewell note, which borrows Sean's own 'see about a girl' excuse.

What phrase does Sean repeat to Will in Good Will Hunting's emotional climax?

It's not your fault is repeated by Sean until Will breaks down, after they compare the abuse each suffered as boys.

Where was the famous bench scene between Will and Sean filmed?

Boston Public Garden holds the bench where Sean's long speech to Will about life and love was shot; the bench became a fan memorial after the actor's death in 2014.

Which South Boston bar was used for the scenes of Will and his friends drinking?

L Street Tavern is a real South Boston bar, and the production chose to film inside it rather than recreate it on a soundstage.

Which character does Ben Affleck play in Good Will Hunting?

Chuckie Sullivan is the friend who tells Will that he owes it to him to leave town and make something of his gift.

Good Will Hunting's final shot follows Will's car along which road as he heads for California?

The Massachusetts Turnpike carries Will west, while back home his best friend finds him gone and can't stop smiling.

Which actor's self-written star vehicle did Matt Damon cite while fighting to star in Good Will Hunting?

Sylvester Stallone had refused to sell Rocky unless he played the lead, just as studio executives kept pushing bigger names to replace Damon.

Which film held the number-one spot when Good Will Hunting went wide in January 1998?

Titanic topped the box office for 15 straight weekends from December 1997, so the film's wide opening on 9 January 1998 came in second behind it.

During camera walk-throughs, the Good Will Hunting star playing Sean ran his lines as which public figure?

Janet Reno, with Damon answering as a cartoon duck, and the director later regretted never filming those run-throughs.

Which earlier film did Good Will Hunting surpass as Miramax's most successful US release?

Pulp Fiction's $108 million domestic take had been Miramax's record until Good Will Hunting earned about $138 million in North America.

Sean tells Will he cannot say what it smells like inside which building?

The Sistine Chapel line comes in the speech Sean gives Will after Will mocked Sean's painting and insulted his late wife.

Affleck and Damon next wrote a screenplay together for which 2021 Ridley Scott film?

The Last Duel flopped at the box office, and Ridley Scott blamed young audiences raised on their cellphones.

Matt Damon left Harvard, with his first Good Will Hunting pages, to act in which Western?

Geronimo: An American Legend took Damon to Los Angeles, where he stayed with Affleck and the two began writing the script together.