Sylvester Stallone Saved Matt Damon’s Oscar Winning Movie from Being Snatched Away by Leonardo DiCaprio
American actor Matt Damon rose to fame with a very special movie that he co-wrote with his long-time friend Ben Affleck. The 1997 released Good Will Hunting is one of the most critically acclaimed projects of Matt Damon’s acting career, which even earned him an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Read Also: Matt Damon Revealed Real Reason Oppenheimer Fans Think Cillian Murphy is a ‘Difficult’ Co-Star
Not many people know that Matt Damon was not the initial choice for the character of a janitor with a great IQ score. However, the character of Will Hunting was supposed to be played by one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.
Matt Damon Is Grateful To Sylvester Stallone For His Academy Award-Winning Movie
During the award ceremony of the prestigious National Board of Review, Matt Damon was awarded the best actor for his sci-fi epic The Martian. While accepting the award, the 45-year-old actor mentioned his inspiration behind Good Will Hunting. He said that it was Sylvester Stallone’s Rocky that inspired him for the iconic role of Will Hunting.
During an interview with the reputed media outlet Variety, the actor said-
Believe me, they really wanted to take it away from us, every time they said, ‘You can’t do this,’ we said, ‘It’s been done before,’
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck on Being awarded the Oscar for Good Will Hunting
While talking about the legendary star, Creed co-star Tessa Thompson mentioned-
“He essentially got the first Rocky made and got to star in it by just not taking ‘no’ for an answer and just believing in himself and his ideas. This business can be one in which you’re accustomed to getting a lot of ‘no’s’ and you sort of learn to brush them off, but if something really matters to you, you just bend it until it’s a ‘yes’ and I kind of learned that from him.”
Sylvester Stallone has been the idol for multiple A-listers in Hollywood. Creed 3 actor Michael B. Jordan believed that without the Rambo actor, the project would not have been such a big blockbuster both commercially and critically.
Matt Damon On Working With His Oppenheimer Co-star Cillian Murphy
Both Matt Damon and Cillian Murphy played significant characters in Christopher Nolan’s magnum opus project Oppenheimer. Matt Damon played the role of Leslie Groves, the director of the Manhattan Project. During an interview with the media outlet Entertainment Weekly, the actor spoke about the sci-fi biographical drama, and his co-star Cillian Murphy. He said-
“When you are at the center of a movie at that scale, shooting seven scenes in a day, it takes a different focus and concern and commitment. It’s beautiful to watch someone give themselves to it fully.”
While talking about getting into the skin of the titular character of Oppenheimer, Cillian Murphy pointed out-
“I love acting with my body, and Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right. I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, and existed on martinis and cigarettes. He had these really bright eyes and I wanted to give him this wide-eyed look, so we worked on his silhouette and expressions a lot before starting.”
Source: Variety
