Matt DamonandBen Affleckare revealing they didn’t work together for several years after their award-winning filmGood Will Hunting.
“Good Will Huntingtook us so long. We were like unemployed, broke guys. It took us forever to write that screenplay. I think we wrote thousands and thousands of pages,” Damon explained. “We didn’t really know what we were doing and I think that kind of put us off writing again because we never thought we’d have the time.”
“I think we found writing [The Last Duel] that we actually kind of picked up structure over the last 25 years of making movies so it went a lot faster,” he added, before praising the help from Holofcener. “And then we also made the really good decision of getting a great writer to come with us.”
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.Evan Agostini/ImageDirect
All the hard work paid off, and the 1997 film scored Damon his first Oscar nomination for acting. The friends also shared a win for Best Original Screenplay, with Affleck becoming the youngest to win in the category and Damon, the second youngest.
“You wouldn’t imagine that those two idiots would still be around,” Affleck joked onThe Tonight Showwhile reflecting on a photo from the movie premiere.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.Jim Smeal/Ron Galella Collection via Getty
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According to the actor, he and Damon originally wroteGood Will Huntingto produce an acting reel to show casting directors for other jobs, noting that they were actually “shocked” that it was ultimately released.
Charles Sykes/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
Now, the stars are excited to have fans see them team up again inThe Last Duel.
Earlier this year, Damon toldEntertainment Tonightearlier this year that he and Affleck had “a lot of fun” writing the film together, alluding to the possibility that they might do it again soon in the future.
The Last Duelhits theaters on Oct. 15.
source: people.com
