Actress/playwright Brenda Withers

A lot of people are fans of actress and playwright Brenda Withers, but if you're a fan of either Matt Damon or Ben Affleck, who rose to fame with their screenplay for the movie Good Will Hunting, you probably don't like her very much.

 

She, along with Mindy Kaling (an earlier honoree on this blog), co-wrote Matt & Ben, a play that satirized the "bromantic" relationship in their pre-fame days and which called for women to play the title roles.  Ms. Withers and Ms. Kaling played Damon and Affleck, respectively, in the 2002 stage production.  The inclusion of a scene in which the screenplay for Good Will Hunting falls out of the sky like a gift from God may not have exactly endeared themselves to those who recognized the hard work Damon and Affleck put into writing it.  But most people who have seen the play (disclosure: I have not) don't see it as mean-spirited; rather, they see it as what one critic called "a very magical take on success." 

Ms Withers has since gone on to other things.  Her more recent plays include 2011's The Ding Dongs or What is the Penalty in Portugal and 2016's Kritik.  She also appeared in an episode of "The Office" (the cast of which included he old friend Ms. Kaling) and played roles in productions of Beth Henley's Crimes Of the Heart and Philip Barry's The Philadelphia Story.  She also co-founded and helps run the Harbor Stage Company in Wellfleet, Massachusetts.