Ben Affleck Says GOOD WILL HUNTING Script Sold For $600,000 But Went Bankrupt In Six Months Despite Thinking They Were Ready For Life

Ben Affleck AND Matt Damon they were two young, struggling, promising actors when they wrote the screenplay for Hunting for goodwill. The 1997 film won the pair the Academy Award for Best Screenplay, as well as the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for their co-star, robin williams, and the film was nominated for seven other Academy Awards. It remained a favorite of many movie fans and marked the beginning of both Affleck and Damon’s prolific careers, but it wasn’t exactly easy going from then on.

In a recent appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show (via IndieWire), Affleck explained the trouble they were in after selling the script:

“When we sold ‘Good Will Hunting’ I thought we were now rich for life. My needs are gone! I will never have to work again! I’m rich forever! We sold [the script] for $600,000. We split it, $300,000 each, and then the agents got $30,000, so we had $270,000. We paid about $160,000 in taxes, so we had $110,000. We each bought a $55,000 Jeep Cherokee and then had $55,000 left over.

He went on to add:

“Naturally we decided to rent a $5,000 a month party house on Glencoe Way near the Hollywood Bowl and were broke within six months.”

The pair have come a long way since then. While they waited for their big break, they were best friends who lived together on very little means and had an unconventional way of getting through tough times. They recently revealed on a March episode of The Bill Simmons Podcast that they shared a bank account as young actors before Hunting for goodwill turned them into industry heavyweights.

“It was unusual, but we needed audition money,” said Damon, calling it “an odd thing in retrospect.”

“We were going to help each other and be there for each other. It was like, ‘You won’t be alone. I will not be alone. Let’s go out there and do it together.’”

Every time Affleck or Damon booked a role, the concert money was deposited into the bank account. As Damon explained:

“As long as one of us had money, we knew the power wouldn’t go out. After done [1992′s] ‘Geronimo’ I probably had $35,000 in the bank. I was like, ‘We’re good for a year.’”

Of course there were rules, but they were a bit forced. Damon continued:

“You were allowed to go to [auditions in] New York with money. You were allowed to withdraw $10 and get quarters and go to [the arcade] and play video games. Eventually we were allowed to try and buy beer, which never worked.”

Those days are long gone, but they helped shape them and make them thankful for where they are today. Affleck and Damon recently starred together in Affleck’s drama Michael Jordan-Nike Air.