Synopsis

Will Hunting is a troubled young janitor at MIT whose extraordinary gift for mathematics is discovered by Professor Gerald Lambeau. After a legal offense, Will agrees to study mathematics and attend therapy with Sean Maguire, a compassionate psychologist. As Sean challenges Will's defenses, the gifted but emotionally wounded young man must confront his past and decide whether he is willing to risk changing his life.

Factoids & Trivia

• Matt Damon began the project while taking a playwriting class at Harvard. Instead of submitting the requested one-act play, he turned in roughly 40 pages of a screenplay. Ben Affleck later helped him expand it into a feature-length script.

• The original screenplay reportedly contained more thriller elements, including a storyline involving Will and the National Security Agency. The finished film shifted its emphasis toward friendship, therapy, emotional healing, and personal choice.

• Damon initially imagined Will as a physics prodigy. Advice from Harvard professor Sheldon Glashow and MIT mathematician Daniel Kleitman helped steer the character toward mathematics.

• Robin Williams' interest in the project was a major factor in getting the film made. His performance earned him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, while Damon and Affleck won Best Original Screenplay at the 70th Academy Awards.

• The film received nine Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Director, and Best Original Song for Elliott Smith's "Miss Misery."

• Much of the film's Boston identity comes from real locations, including MIT, Harvard Square, South Boston, and the Boston Public Garden. The bench used for Sean and Will's conversation later became associated with Williams' legacy.

• Williams improvised several moments, including the story about Sean's wife and the film's final spoken line. Those additions helped shape the movie's balance of humor and vulnerability.