Why Kevin Smith Turned Down Chance to Direct Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's “Good Will Hunting ”(Exclusive)

Kevin Smith played a awesome domiciled successful helping Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's breakout Good Will Hunting get made. But erstwhile nan opportunity to nonstop it himself came up, he declined.

Smith, 54, precocious relived his acquisition gathering Affleck, 52, and Damon, 54, successful nan mid-1990s and helping bring nan Oscar-winning 1997 play to nan large surface pinch PEOPLE while discussing nan 25th day of his 1999 movie Dogma, successful which Damon and Affleck besides starred.

Smith began moving pinch Affleck arsenic early arsenic their 1995 movie Mallrats, by which clip Affleck and Damon had already sold their book for Good Will Hunting to Castle Rock Entertainment. As Smith recalls, he helped group up nan accumulation astatine Harvey Weinstein's accumulation institution Miramax aft Affleck told him Castle Rock intended to make nan movie without Affleck and Damon successful its cast.

"The first mobility that I was asked by Ben and Matt and nan Miramax folks was, 'Do you wanna nonstop it?' I deliberation they each asked that pinch clenched a------s hoping that I would opportunity no," Smith recalls. "Naturally, I was like, 'Oh my God, no. If I were to nonstop this, I would conscionable move astir to Ben and Matt nan full clip and say, 'Is this what you saw erstwhile you wrote it?' "

Given that Damon and Affleck had written nan movie themselves, Smith recommended to Miramax that nan institution besides fto nan brace nonstop nan movie.

"I was told that nan lunatics would not beryllium moving that peculiar asylum, truthful nan hunt for a head began astatine Miramax," he says.

As Smith recalls, "Twenty of nan apical board connected nan satellite were willing successful directing" Good Will Hunting, including Michael Mann and Mel Gibson. Gus Van Sant coiled up making nan movie pinch Affleck and Damon successful their now-famous roles, successful ample portion owed to Casey Affleck's liking successful moving pinch Van Sant again aft 1995's To Die For.

The movie — which Smith saw arsenic "one of nan champion things I've ever read" upon reference its book — yet helped motorboat Damon and nan Affleck brothers arsenic movie stars. Damon and Ben some won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, while Robin Williams won Best Supporting Actor.

Smith tells PEOPLE nan mixed occurrence of Good Will Hunting and Affleck's 1997 movie pinch Smith Chasing Amy gave nan group "enough juice" to put Dogma into production.

The filmmaker had fixed Affleck nan scripts for Dogma and Chasing Amy astatine nan aforesaid clip years earlier but warned Affleck that producing Dogma would require "movie stars" successful bid to unafraid nan larger fund required to make it.

"I'll ne'er hide nan first time we're connected group shooting pinch Ben and Matt. Right earlier nan first take, we're astir to rotation for nan first clip and nan boys person been nominated for Academy Awards," Smith recalls. "So we're astir to shoot, and I look astatine Ben, and Ben looks maine dormant successful nan eyes, and he goes, 'Guess who became a movie prima conscionable to do your stupid movie.' And I was like, 'Well done, my friend. Well done.' "