Whenever I watch Good Will Hunting, it still catches me by surprise to see Kevin Smith’s name in the opening credits as an executive producer – even though he was the one who personally delivered it to Miramax. But his credit could have been in an entirely different spot, as he was once poached to direct the eventual Oscar winner. How do ya like them apples?
Kevin Smith’s ties to both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are well known, but he wanted nothing to do with directing them in Good Will Hunting. As he told People, “The first question that I was asked by Ben and Matt and the Miramax folks was, ‘Do you wanna direct it?’ I think they all asked that with clenched assholes hoping that I would say no. Naturally, I was like, ‘Oh my God, no. If I were to direct this, I would just turn around to Ben and Matt the whole time and say, ‘Is this what you saw when you wrote it?’”
Kevin Smith instead suggested that stars and co-writers Affleck and Damon team up to direct Good Will Hunting well, although the heads quickly shot that idea down. “I was told that the lunatics would not be running that particular asylum, so the search for a director began at Miramax.” Eventually the gig went to Gus Van Sant, who landed his first Best Director Oscar nod. (The film would earn a total of nine nominations, winning for Affleck and Damon’s screenplay and Best Supporting Actor for Robin Williams.)
Kevin Smith had only just been showing some (temporary) maturity in his films, with Chasing Amy hitting Sundance a few months before cameras rolled on Good Will Hunting. And while we love Smith, he was not the guy to direct that kind of movie. Really, he pulled off the extent of anything like it with the Good Will Hunting 2: Hunting Season bit in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.
How do you think Kevin Smith would have done had he actually directed Good Will Hunting? Give us your best lion or lemon face and let us know in the comments section below!
