Actor Matt Damon recently revealed a story of how he and his longtime friend Ben Affleck missed out on being a part of 1989's Dead Poets Society after failing an audition for it. Speaking recently to Project Big Screen, Damon said that he and Affleck did a summer job in the same year after the audition where their job was to work at a movie theatre with a single screen that screened only Dead Poets Society, directed by Peter Weir. "For three or four showings a day, it was never not completely at capacity. We tore the tickets, we sold the popcorn and the sodas and the Junior Mints and Milk Duds and told people to enjoy the show," Damon said.
Damon said that hundreds of audience members would exit the theatre after the show with tears in their eyes and hugging each other. "Then, we would go in, sweep the theatre up and get ready for the next group that was coming in," Matt Damon revealed.
Affleck and Damon added that they have shown the film to their children and that it has made an emotional impact on them as well. "It is wonderful. The right actors got the parts. Everyone was great," Damon said about the 1989 film, starring Robin Williams, Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Josh Charles, among others.
Damon suggested that it was a humbling experience for him and Affleck, one to keep in mind about the film industry. "It was a good lesson in like.. what's at stake in this career. There is not really an in-between: You are either in the movie or you are sweeping up..," Damon said about doing the summer job after the failed audition. The actor also reiterated that he and Affleck do not have any grudge or animosity against the film's cast, including Hawke, who is nominated for best actor at the Oscars and BATFA Film Awards this year for his performance in Blue Moon.