Ben Stiller turned down directing 'Good Will Hunting'

With films like Reality Bites, Zoolander and Tropic Thunder, just to name a few, Ben Stiller established himself as a director as much as he did as an actor. If he followed suit with one particular film, however, he may have propelled further as a filmmaker.

In an interview with Vulture to promote his latest starring vehicle While We're Young, Stiller revealed if he had the chance to relive his 20s-or-30s like his character tries to do in his new movie, he would give another look at Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's Academy Award-winning screenplay for Good Will Hunting.

"I remember my agent sent me the script for Good Will Hunting to direct and I was like, 'Who are these guys, Affleck and Damon? And why are they attached to this project? No, thank you,'" Stiller confessed. "I mean, maybe I’d change that."

At the time, Stiller just came from his feature directorial debut Reality Bites. Ultimately Stiller, at the time, decided 1996's The Cable Guy, starring Jim Carrey and Matthew Broderick, was a more suitable sophomore film choice. And while that film is notable as Judd Apatow's first film as a producer and where he met his future wife Leslie Mann, it's safe to say Good Will Hunting may have had more success for Stiller as a director.

The Cable Guy was a critical flop and, while it has some fans (though not with this writer), Stiller said in the past how it almost killed his directing career. He would not make another film until 2001's Zoolander, which propelled Stiller, the filmmaker and actor, back into the spotlight.

Even though Stiller's career has ups-and-downs—including the poor reception to his last directorial effort, 2013's The Secret Life of Walter Mitty— he's made peace with his choices in life, good and bad.

"That's what every time travel movie you've ever seen is based on," Stiller said. "We start going down that rabbit hole and people say, 'If I had to do it over, I wouldn't change anything.' Now, that's not how I feel, but I am happy with the choices I've made because they've gotten me to where I am today and I've learned from them."

While We're Young comes to theaters this Friday. At the moment, Stiller's hard at work on his next film as an actor and director: Zoolander 2. The sequel starts production soon in Rome for a February 12, 2016 release.

Image courtesy of Walter McBride/INFphoto.com