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A troubled Matt Damon, a British love interest, a warm-hearted Robin Williams, and a poignant storyline of love, friendship, and redemption.
These are just a few of the reasons why the film Good Will Hunting is so adored by critics and audiences alike. Its script has been praised and awarded many times over, but few are aware of just how many changes took place to create the version we know and love. We looked into the lines added and omitted from the original script in the iconic park bench scene between a troubled, apologetic Will and his kind-hearted therapist Sean.
Here are five script to screen changes in this Good Will Hunting scene we’re glad were made.
“It’s alright”
After a tension-filled first meeting and borderline violent therapy session, Robin Williams and Matt Damon reconcile on a park bench in what is undoubtedly one of the most famous and touching scenes of the film. Robin Williams, as Will Hunting’s benevolent therapist Sean, tells us about his realization with Will’s outburst: “You’re just a kid. You don’t have the faintest idea what you’re talking about.” Despite Will’s unsurprisingly sarcastic quip that followed: “why thank you,” Sean only says a gentle, “It’s alright”. This small comment sets the entire tone of one of the most endearing scenes in the film. Without it, in an older draft, Sean comes off as angry and unforgiving, setting out to put Will in his place. But now, this small statement of forgiveness gives way to the heartfelt emotion in the scene; a scene about forgiveness and growth, not bitterness.
“I don’t see a peer… I don’t see an equal”
All of Will’s life, he’s been judged and looked down upon. A cutting line like this would have fit right in with this pattern. Coming from caring therapist Sean, however, this line is anything but fitting. So, it makes sense it was cut when changing the original script. With a line like this, Sean would no longer be the compassionate and sensitive mentor viewers adore, but just another rigid authority figure in Will’s life. This line, and much of the original script, belittles Will. The revised version, while acknowledging just how problematic Will really is, does so with a touch of humanism and respect.
“You’ve never known someone who could level you with their eyes”
The original version of this quote was actually, “You’ve never known someone that could kill you with a look”, and the difference between the two speaks volumes. Killing with a look, through something we’ve all likely wished we could do at one point or another, is a notion that adds a sense of aggression and violence to a scene meant to be tender and honest. A person who can kill you with a look could be anyone: a disgruntled customer, a confrontational co-worker, or an infuriated driver you cut off when switching lanes. But someone “who could level you with their eyes” is one in a million. Someone who truly sees you, flaws and all. Will’s fear of intimacy and the possibility that Skylar could be this person for him is one of the most prevalent storylines of the film. This newer version of the quote helps the scene (and its characters) to be exactly how it should be at this point in the film: impassioned and raw.
“I’m fascinated. I’m in”
In a story about redemption, this added line seems to almost single-handedly redeem the tone of this scene. Without it, after Sean’s blunt exposition of Will’s hypocrisy and shortcomings, the scene would feel irreversibly empty and disappointing. If Sean had laid Will’s flaws so blatantly only to end with no words of support or optimism, Will would have only continued his vicious cycle of aggression and repression, leaving us to watch helplessly as he spiralled even farther. Instead, we are thankfully given hope that Will can heal after all. In a life riddled with neglect and a staggering lack of positive role models, he has finally found one in Sean: someone who doesn’t try to “fix” or judge him, but genuinely takes interest in Will and wants to help him find the happiness and healing he deserves.
“Your move chief”
The line that closes the scene and what is ultimately one of the most notable in Good Will Hunting wasn’t even originally scripted. It was luckily added later in the process, and it’s hard to imagine this sequence without Sean’s affectionate endearment that so clearly displays his and Will’s growing relationship. The added sentiments of “sport” and “chief” Sean grants to Will, in a time of self-reflection and redemption, come across as almost fatherly. This is a perfect example of the most enduring elements of Good Will Hunting: the loving relationships and an unforgettable journey toward healing and redemption.
Emily Pille
Team LondonSWF
Posted by a member of the London Screenwriters’ Festival team.
