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Ben Stiller puts a major part of his time into his career as a director these days and he has some amazing projects in his portfolio. Stiller directed acclaimed films likeTropic ThunderandThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty. He also served as the director and executive producer of the AppleTV+ series,Severance. However, there were a few scripts he had to turn down for reaching such height in his filmmaking career and some of them turned out to be huge successes.
Out of these films, one film could’ve won him his much-deserved Oscar back in the ’90s itself. Stiller was just two feature films into his directorial career when the Oscar-winning script ofGood Will Huntingwas sent to him. TheZoolanderactor unfortunately turned down Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s best work due to one reason.
Ben Stiller Turned Down Directing Matt Damon And Ben Affleck’sGood Will Hunting
Good Will Huntingchanged the star status of bothBen AffleckandMatt Damon. The duo wrote and rewrote drafts of the script from Damon’s days at Harvard until the film was made in 1997. They faced several rejections but finally found a producer in Miramax and a director inGus Van Sant.
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Many might find it surprising that theGood Will Huntingscript was once sent toBen Stillerfor directing the film. Stiller revealed the story withHoward Sternon his show when they discussed how the screenplay ofSeverancesat in his company for years before he decided to make it. When Stiller mentioned the scripts that he regretted turning down, Stern asked him to name the most famous one.
Even Howard Stern was taken aback when theLittle Fockersactor revealed that he turned downGood Will Hunting. The script was sent to him by his agent but he found one thing that troubled him about taking the film. Affleck and Damon were attached to play the lead roles in the film and Stiller didn’t like the fact that he didn’t get a say in their casting. He admitted that he missed the boat on the film. Stiller toldThe Howard Stern Show:
“I got sent it by my agent at the time. The first turn off was that these two guys were attached to it to act in it who wrote it. I was like, ‘What? Come on. I cast my own projects. Who are these guys?’. So that was one that I was like, ‘Uh, I missed the boat.’”
At the time, Ben Stiller had already two movies to his name as a director. His feature directorial debut was the romantic comedy-drama,Reality Bites. He also directedJim Carreyin the absurdist black comedy film,The Cable Guy,in 1996.
Ben Stiller May Have Missed The Opportunity To Grab His First Oscar
Good Will Huntingwent on to earn nine Oscar nominations and won two for Best Supporting Actor (Robin Williams) and Best Original Screenplay (Damon and Affleck). The film was also nominated for the major categories of Best Picture and Best Director. However, the film was beaten in both these categories byJames Cameron‘s epic filmTitanic.
However, as opposed to Gus Van Sant, Ben Stiller stood a better chance of winning the top award. Van Sant, an acclaimed independent film director, did not have the necessary backing for his Oscar campaign. However, Ben Stiller alongside Miramax could’ve swayed the awards, just likeHarvey Weinstein did the very next year withShakespeare in Love. He managed to outrunSteven Spielberg‘sSaving Private Ryanin the Oscar race at the 71st Academy Awards.
Ben Stiller Helped Jim Carrey Deliver One of His Darkest Roles To Date and Its Nothing But a Masterpiece
Stiller is returning to his comedy role with the upcoming filmNutcrackers. He is also in theworks ofSeverance Season 2.Good Will Huntingis now available for streaming on Max.
Hashim Asraff
Senior Writer
Articles Published :3019
Hashim Asraff is a Senior Entertainment Writer at FandomWire, with over 2,800 articles published on celebrity culture, comic book movies, and major TV franchises. With a background in Sociology and a keen interest in pop culture, Hashim brings a unique lens to breaking news stories, character deep-dives, film rankings, and fan-driven perspectives.His coverage often includes the MCU, DCU, hit network shows, and celebrity profiles, giving readers a rich blend of entertainment and analysis. A longtime fan of crime and investigative series, Hashim has watched thousands of episodes of NCIS, Criminal Minds, Law & Order: SVU, Bones, Blue Bloods, and The RookieA passionate storyteller and wordsmith, Hashim has also worked as a ghostwriter and managed multiple social media handles. He brought his writing expertise to FandomWire to also pursue his lifelong love for cinema and television.
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Ben AffleckBen StillerMatt Damon
