Matt Damon shares setback that inspired Good Will Hunting

is reminiscing about the time he lost out on an exceptionally plum role in Primal Fear to another actor who shot to fame thanks to the part.

As he told on Complex’s GOAT Talk show, the disappointment had its benefits because it spurred him to write the Oscar-winning 1997 film Good Will Hunting with his pal .

'It was actually a real impetus behind us writing Good Will Hunting,' said Damon, who recently .

The Daily Mail has reached out to Damon for comment. 

Good Will Hunting followed a self-taught mathematical genius who works as a janitor at the Institute of Technology and must confront his emotional trauma through a widowed therapist () and relationship with a Harvard pre-med student (Minnie Driver).

Good Will Hunting was both a critical and box office success that led Damon, 55, and Affleck, 53, to win for Best Original Screenplay in 1998. The movie completely changed their careers and made them bankable stars.

Before they struck gold, the childhood friends, who grew up only blocks apart in Cambridge, Massachusetts, both went after the Primal Fear role of Aaron Stampler, a young altar boy accused of murdering a Catholic bishop. 

Edward Norton nabbed the part in the 1996 legal thriller, marking his film debut.

Norton's portrayal of the shy and stuttering 19-year-old boy from Kentucky and cold and aggressive alternate personality Roy was his star-making entry into Hollywood.