Matt Damon wants Robin Williams statue in Boston Public Garden

Almost ten years after the death of Robin Williams, his “Good Will Hunting” co-star Matt Damon is reviving the idea of placing a statue of the actor in Boston Public Garden as a permanent memorial.

In an interview with journalist Jake Hamilton, Damon and his co-star in “The Instigators,” Casey Affleck, discussed memories of filming “Good Will Hunting,” including shooting the iconic park bench scene in Boston Public Garden.

The scene, in which Williams character psychologist Sean Maguire essentially tells Will (Damon) that despite all of his book smarts he hasn’t truly lived, helped Williams win Best Supporting Actor at the 1998 Oscars.

In Damon’s eyes, putting a statue of Williams in the Public Garden would be a fitting tribute to the actor, and a powerful message for those struggling with their mental health.

“[An artist] proposed to us to do a bronze statue of Robin and permanently put it there,” Damon said. “The idea being that if you feel alone you can go sit next to him, which I think is the coolest idea. It would be the most beautiful installation and such a tribute to that guy, who I think would have loved that.”

Past Robin Williams statue proposals

This isn’t the first time a proposal for a Williams statue in the Public Garden has come up.

Following Williams’ death on August 11, 2014, the park bench in the Garden where he and Damon filmed their scene became an impromptu memorial.

Shortly after, MIT administrator Garry McLinn proposed the idea of a Williams statue on Reddit, which then spurred a petition that garnered more than 16,000 signatures.

Following renewed discussion of the statue proposal on Reddit over the weekend, McLinn chimed in to say that back in 2014 when he reached out to Friends of the Public Garden — the non-profit that helps administrate the Common and Public Garden with the city’s Department of Park and Recreation — he received “a very polite” rejection.

The city has not received any recent proposals for a Robin Williams statue, and the bar to getting a permanent monument added to Boston’s most prominent green spaces is quite high. There has been a moratorium on adding new monuments to both the Boston Common and the Boston Public Garden in effect since 1988, with the only exceptions being the 9/11 Memorial in the Public Garden and “The Embrace,” the monument dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King unveiled in 2023. Any permanent addition would require a robust community process and the approval of the Boston Arts Commission, the Boston Landmarks Commission, and the Boston Parks Commission. 

Regardless of potential red tape, Damon said he hoped the Williams statue will become a reality, saying he got “chills” when he heard the proposal.

“I hope it comes to pass,” Damon said. “I hope they let this artist do it because it would be pretty cool.”