Good Will Hunting

On this date in 1997, "Good Will Hunting" was released.

In a Boston Magazine retrospective interview, Ben Affleck mentioned that he and Matt Damon wrote the part of Sean Maguire with Morgan Freeman or Robert De Niro in mind, and he and Damon would imitate their voices when reviewing the dialogue in the script. When Robin Williams read the script via Francis Ford Coppola and really liked it, his one question for Coppola was, "Who are these guys?"

In his first scene, Williams is standing in front of a blackboard. Behind him, written on the blackboard in chalk, are the words "Susser 1969." In 1969, Williams graduated from Redwood High School, Larkspur, and then continued at College of Marin, Kentfield just a few blocks away from the high school. He became acquainted with the drama department there at the College of Marin, and performed in the production "Taming of the Shrew" by William Shakespeare. Robin Williams' first stage director was the late Harvey Susser. Thus, the blackboard "code words" seem to say: "Hey, Harvey! See this! Now I'm the teacher!"

The lines in the scene when Sean talks about his late wife's farting antics were ad-libbed by Williams. That is why Damon was laughing so hard. If you watch the scene carefully you can notice the camera shaking a bit, possibly due to the cameraman laughing as well.

When Williams and Damon were shooting the scene on the bench in the Public Garden, in the movie, it seems like they're the only people in the park. As Williams was a massive star, there were, at one point, over 3,000 people out there watching that scene. After the 2014 death of Williams, the Boston Public Garden park bench where he and Damon had their conversation scene became an impromptu memorial site for the actor; people left flowers, quotes and various items at the bench. A petition has been passed around to erect a statue in Williams' memory near the bench.

While a guest on "Late Show with David Letterman," Williams joked about his experience after winning an Oscar for his role in this film: "It's amazing. When you win the Academy Award, you have, like, about a about a week where everyone's like, 'Hey, 'Good Will Hunting'--way to go! 'Good Will Hunting', Academy Award, way to go!' And two weeks later, it's like, 'Hey, Mork!' How are ya?'"