Ben Stiller Turned Down Opportunity to Direct Good Will Hunting, Didn’t Want Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as Stars

Ben Stiller revealed the directing opportunity he turned down early on in his career that still bothers him, the Oscar-winning classic Good Will Hunting.

On Thursday’s episode of The Old Man and The Three, Stiller sat down with hosts JJ Redick and Tommy Alter to discuss his prestigious career.

Redick asked, “What about a role you were offered that either your schedule didn’t allow you to do or you didn’t want to do the role? This is later on in your career obviously, you’ve at this point had some hits. I assume there were roles you turned down at some point and then thought to yourself ‘I should’ve done that.'”

Stiller replied, “Yeah, I mean, the one that sticks out as a director or the script that I was sent and offered was these two guys had written this script that they were attaching themselves to as actors. It was to direct and it was called Good Will Hunting.”

“I knew you would say that,” Redick laughed.

“I was like, who are these two guys and why do they think they should be starring in their own movie?” Stiller added.

Stiller is referring to actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck who developed the script for Good Will Hunting in 1994.

“I don’t think I even entertained it,” Stiller said matter-of-factly. “If I’m going to cast this thing, I’m going to pick my own actors.”

Listen above via The Old Man and The Three.