Matt Damon reveals crazy story behind his & Ben Affleck’s audition for ‘Dead Poets Society’
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Matt Damon was supposed to be promoting his forthcoming film Stillwater, and then he unintentionally went viral for being backed into commenting on “Bennifer” speculation, but he also revealed an interesting nugget for true cinephiles.
Damon revealed during his visit on Today with Hoda & Jenna that he auditioned for Dead Poet’s Society (1989), which set into motion a crazy sequence of events:
“Ben [Affleck] and I both got really close on Dead Poets Society back in the ’80s, and it’s a great example of this business and the feast-and-famine nature of it because … we got close, didn’t get it, and ended up working in the movie theater in Cambridge where we grew up. The only movie that the theater played that summer was Dead Poets Society. So Ben and I literally sold tickets, tore tickets, were the ushers, sold popcorn, and cleaned up after everybody, and [then] watched them walk out crying every night because Dead Poets Society was so great.”But I don’t know if we would have written Good Will Hunting if we were in Dead Poets Society, so we ended up doing our own movie with Robin Williams, and that worked out really well. You never know.”
Dead Poets Society (1989) claimed an Oscar for best writing, screenplay—the same category in which Affleck and Damon won for Good Will Hunting (1997) eight years later.
Fast forward nearly 25 years, and Affleck and Damon are still tag-teaming filmmakers. They co-wrote and both serve as executive producers on the Ridley Scott-directed The Last Duel, due later this year. Affleck will portray King Charles VI, while Damon will portray Jean de Carrouges. The cast also includes Adam Driver and Jodie Comer.
For now, watch Damon’s full interview as well as the Stillwater trailer below.
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