Content Advisory: This article discusses suicide and mental health. Reader discretion is advised.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are diehard Boston Red Sox fans, but they made one very public exception for Robin Williams.
The longtime friends and ‘Good Will Hunting’ collaborators appeared at Bring Change to Mind’s Revels & Revelations celebration in the Bay Area, where they received the Robin Williams Legacy of Laughter Award. The nonprofit, co-founded by Glenn Close, focuses on mental health awareness and reducing stigma.
Damon and Affleck accepted the honor while holding San Francisco Giants hats, a nod to Williams’ lifelong love for the team. For two Boston guys, that was no small gesture.
“We should get this over with,” Damon joked as they put on the caps.
Then he added, “That’s the first time in 55 years and that’s for Robin.”
Williams Changed Everything For ‘Good Will Hunting’
Damon and Affleck starred with Williams in the 1997 film ‘Good Will Hunting,’ the movie that changed all three of their careers in different ways.
Williams won the Academy Award for best supporting actor for his role as Sean Maguire, the therapist who helps Damon’s Will Hunting face years of pain and fear.
Damon told the crowd that he and Affleck spent their 20s trying to get the movie made. The process was difficult until Williams read the script and agreed to join. “The moment that Robin read it and decided to do it, all of our problems went away,” Damon said.
He explained that the studio had notes and concerns before Williams backed the project. “Once Robin was like, ‘No, I like the script just as it is,’ they were like, ‘We think it’s great too!’” Damon recalled. “And that was it, and we just went and made the movie.”
Affleck Said Williams Made The Biggest Impact
Affleck said the award was really a chance to thank Williams.
He called Williams “the person that made the most meaningful impact on our professional lives, bar none.”
Affleck added that without Williams, many of their dreams may not have come true, “certainly not in the way that they did.”
He also connected the honor to the subject of ‘Good Will Hunting,’ noting that the film follows a young man struggling with mental health who needs someone safe to talk to.
“I think it’s really appropriate,” Affleck said. “He would be, I think, enormously proud and happy that this context is how he’s being honored.”
Williams’ Children Presented The Award
Williams died by suicide in 2014 at age 63. His children, Zak, Zelda and Cody Williams, were at the event to present the award to Damon and Affleck.
Close, Sarah Silverman, Chase Stokes and Chris Martin also participated in the evening, which raised $2.5 million and marked 15 years of Bring Change to Mind’s work around mental health conversations.
For Damon and Affleck, the night was clearly personal. The Giants hats got the laugh, but the message underneath was simple: Robin Williams did not just help make ‘Good Will Hunting.’ He helped make their careers possible.
