The Good Will Hunting actor revealed Robin Williams‘ habit increased the film’s budget. He also recalled his time on the set with the late Oscar-winning actor.
What Robin Williams habit drastically increased Good Will Hunting’s budget?
As per TheWrap, Matt Damon was recently featured on Amy Poehler’s podcast, Good Hang. During that time, he recalled his time on the Good Will Hunting set, including a habit of Williams’s that required them to purchase extra film.
The habit of wanting extra takes despite being good “shocked” the actor, leading him to call the late comedy legend a “ruminator.”
“He did a lot of takes,” he stated, “He was a ruminator, and there were things we went back and did another pickup of – a thing we’d already shot 15 times. Ben (Affleck) and I knew we had it. The director Gus (Van Sant) knew we had it. I think that might be the comedy background; there’s always a joke, there’s always something more that I can grab in there. The guy just had so much energy. We went over budget on film. I remember every day at lunch we would send out to Kodak, they’d come back with more film because we were burning through a lot of film, really just for him to feel like, ‘Yeah, we got it.'”
Damon also recalled his conversation with Terry Gilliam, director of Williams’ The Fisher King. In the conversation, Gilliam spoke about how “brilliant” the actor was in the film. His role as Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting earned the late actor an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998. The script was written by Damon and Affleck, but Robin Williams improvised on set.
The Odyssey lead actor also promoted Christopher Nolan‘s upcoming movie on the podcast. He will play Odysseus in a story that follows his 10-year journey home to Ithaca after the Trojan War, while his wife, Penelope, and son, Telemachus, fight off potential suitors for the throne.
The Odyssey will be out in theaters on July 17, 2026.
