“I teach this shit, I didn’t say I know how to do it.”
Screenwriter Matt Damon, a former Harvard student, intended Will to be a physics prodigy and discussed it with Sheldon Glashow, a Nobel laureate in physics and Harvard professor. Glashow suggested Will be a math prodigy instead and referred Damon to his brother-in-law, Daniel Kleitman, a professor of math at MIT. Originally, Rob Reiner’s company, Castle Rock bought the film rights and had screenwriter William Goldman read the script. He suggested ending with Will following his girlfriend Skylar (Minnie Driver) to California. Skylar is named after Matt Damon’s girlfriend, who left him when he and Driver got romantically involved during production. When Miramax bought the film rights Matt Damon and Ben Afleck persuaded them to hire Gus Van Sant (Drugstore Cowboy, 1989) as director.
