MovieChat Forums > Good Will Hunting (1998) Discussion > What if Matt Damon and Ben Affleck had s...

What if Matt Damon and Ben Affleck had swapped their roles?


Just a random thought that occurred to me. Since Matt Damon and Ben Affleck themselves wrote this film, they had the liberty to choose their own roles. What if they had swapped their roles? Would you have loved to see Ben Affleck as Will Hunting?

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No, Ben isn't smart enough in real life to make the character seem authentic. It would be like seeing Woody Allen play an NFL linebacker.

..*.. TxMike ..*..
Sometimes I think we're alone in the universe, and sometimes not.

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I think it was perfectly and brilliantly written, cast, and executed as it was.

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I can't see Ben Affleck pulling off the scene where Will humiliates the guy who quoted a book as his opinion by pointing out that he did just that.

Green Goblin is great! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1L4ZuaVvaw

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No. Ben is a good writer/director but a "meh" actor. He's naturally charismatic and interesting to look at so it keeps him from being terrible but Matt's the better actor.

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I heard that Matt wrote the majority of the screenplay so f course he's gonna play the lead. He played it perfect and can't see Ben pulling it off

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[deleted]

It's difficult to picture that, but I think they would've been able to pull off each other's roles. We all know Matt Damon is unquestionably a good actor. People have polarized opinion's about Ben Affleck's acting, but I compare his role with... I don't know, Argo and Batman V Superman I think he does have an acting range. He could have pulled Will off.

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