There’s something quietly interesting about the fact that one of the most famous screenwriters in Hollywood never finished his English degree. Matt Damon went to Harvard University in 1988 and lived in Lowell House on campus. He was in the class of 1992. Since he was born and raised in Cambridge, Harvard wasn’t really strange to him. It was pretty close to his house. Still, what happened on campus those years was much more important than any diploma.
Before going to Harvard, Damon went to Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, where he was said to have been a good student and active in theater productions. His drama teacher, Gerry Speca, made a big impression on him, but Damon has pointed out with a dry sense of humor that Speca always gave his friend and classmate Ben Affleck the bigger parts. Back then, there was a kind of rivalry between two Cambridge kids who would go on to share one of the most prestigious screenwriting awards in movie history. It was both friendly and competitive at the same time.
Damon did more than just sit in class and watch the clock at Harvard. He had the job to do. He took classes seriously and was in student plays. Somewhere in the middle of all that, he wrote something that would change his life. As part of an English class assignment, he wrote an essay that was structured like a film script. That rough and unpolished piece, which it probably was at the time, was the start of Good Will Hunting. Take a moment to think about that. A screenplay that won an Oscar began as homework.
He also took Gregory Nagy’s class on the Greek hero, which shows that he is interested in more than just performing. A fact that has come to light recently is that Damon and Ketanji Brown Jackson, who would later become a Justice of the United States Supreme Court, did a scene together in a Harvard drama class. Cambridge seems to have turned out a wide range of people.
It’s possible that Damon always knew that Hollywood was closer than high school. In 1992, he left Harvard to play the lead in Geronimo: An American Legend. He was only twelve credits away from finishing his Bachelor of Arts in English. He’s been honest about his choice, saying that he thought the movie would be a huge hit. It wasn’t. He stayed in Los Angeles, though, and moved in with Affleck. The two of them kept working on the script.
Damon has talked about this chapter in a way that makes me laugh at myself. His speech at the 2016 MIT Commencement was about how he “fake graduated” from Harvard. He said that he wore the cap and gown, walked with his class, and had his parents there, but he never actually got his degree. People laughed at the line, but it really means something. He knew what he had given up. He also knew that the trade worked out when he looked back.
What’s interesting is how much Harvard changed the work even though it didn’t produce the graduate. It was the streets, the feel, and the unique problems that come with growing up in the shadow of prestigious schools that inspired the screenplay for Good Will Hunting. One story is about a young genius from South Boston who fights against the world’s attempts to claim him. Another story is about two kids from Cambridge who were told for years what success should look like.
In 2013, Damon was given the Harvard Arts Medal, which was both a fitting and slightly ironic honor. The university gave an award to a man who left before they could officially certify him. There is some sense to it, though. The career, the scripts, and the choices he made after leaving made the question of where he went to college almost no longer important. He went to college. He didn’t stay long enough to finish. It turns out that that was part of what made the story worth telling.
