Matt Damon recalled one of the most memorable moments from the filming of Good Will Hunting by revealing that one of the film’s most iconic lines was completely improvised by Robin Williams.
The actor shared the story during an interview on the Good Hang podcast, hosted by Amy Poehler. According to Damon, the final line spoken by Williams’ character: “Son of a bitch, he stole my line,” was not in the original script.
The scene originally only called for therapist Sean Maguire to read the letter left by Will and leave the scene in silence, but Williams decided to add the line spontaneously.
The actor said the improvisation worked as a reference to an earlier conversation between the characters, when Sean says he skipped a decisive game to “see about a girl.”
For Damon, the connection created by Williams gave the film’s ending even more strength and represented a true moment of “movie magic.”
Damon also praised his co-star’s commitment during filming. According to him, Robin Williams would often shoot several versions of the same scene because he was always looking to refine his performance, a habit developed throughout his career in comedy and improvisation.
Released in 1997, Good Will Hunting was written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and became a major box-office and critical success.
The film grossed more than US$ 225 million at the worldwide box office and won two Oscars: Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams and Best Original Screenplay for Damon and Affleck.
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Photo and video: Publicity / Miramax / YouTube @Good-Hang-with-Amy-Poehler. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
