EXCLUSIVE: 'I had the world at my fingertips!': William Lee Scott worked with Angelina Jolie ('a bada**') and Ben Affleck ('one of the guys') then walked... now he's back 

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He was the next big thing after working with Angelina Jolie in 2000's Gone In 60 Seconds, Ben Affleck in 2001's Pearl Harbor and Ashton Kutcher in 2004's The Butterfly Effect. All seemed to be going well for William Lee Scott.

But then the actor headed back to Minnesota when a family member was diagnosed with ALS. He only came back to Hollywood for an independent film here and there.

Now the 42-year-old actor has returned to big-budget movies starring as Moody opposite Chris Pratt in the western The Magnificent Seven. Scott talked to DailyMail.com about his rise, his break and his return.

Back for good: William Lee Scott was flying high in Hollywood then retreated to Minnesota. Now the 42-year-old star is back with The Magnificent Seven

A hit: The Magnificent Seven also stars Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke and Denzel Washington

'I believed I had the world at my finger tips. I was very young. Very naive,' the father-of-two said. 

Scott had his first major break with the action film Gone In 60 Seconds.

'It was a ride. I was 25, playing a 16 year old kid. I hate doing that. But I guess if the shoe fits. I have always looked younger than I am. Blessing and a burden in this town,' he said.

Big stuff: William is seen far right in a cast photo for Gone In 60 Seconds in the year 2000; also here is (from left) Angelina Jolie, Robert Duvall and Scott Caan

His take on Angelina: 'She was in her twenties just rocking and being overall bada**. It was awesome,' he said

And he has only good memories about Jolie. 'Working with Angelina was so flipping cool!" William began.

'She was in her twenties, just rocking and being overall bada**. It was awesome. She was awesome.'

The film gave him more that a boost in Hollywood. It's also how he met his wife Charlene, who shared a scene with him in a car shop.

Another massive film: Scott is second from right in the Pearl Harbor cast shot. Also in the photo is Josh Hartnett, Kate Beckinsale, Ben Affleck and Jaime King

Back story: 'I respect the military so much I will not even joke around and say it was a bootcamp. It was four days of not being treated as well as we were used to at the time. Ben took s*** from Sg. Donnelly with rest of us. Good guy'

The love of his life: William proposed to Charlene with a diamond and ruby ring the day of the premiere of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii in 2001

'She is the love of my life and the mother of my two boys Jameson and Michael,' he offered.

'It's an awesome thing to be able to literally show my boys the moment I met my wife.'

They got engaged the day of the premiere of Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, he revealed. 'We married a year after that. Best decision of my life,' said Scott.

Not That 70s Show: In 2004 he worked with Ashton Kutcher on The Butterfly Effect. 'Ashton was really a very giving actor,' said William

Playing Billy Thompson on Pearl Harbor was a breakthrough for the actor. It put him in the company of Ben Affleck and Josh Hartnett. 

'Ben was fantastic. One of the guys. We all went through this actor bootcamp. Yeah. I said that,' said the star.

'I respect the military so much I will not even joke around and say it was a bootcamp. It was four days of not being treated as well as we were used to at the time. Ben took s*** from Sg. Donnelly with rest of us. Good guy.'

Scott and Hartnett are still close.

'He's a dear friend, I love that guy. The best thing that came from Pearl Harbor was my friendship with Josh.'

The very early years: The star got his start on TV's The Steve Harvey Show in the late 1990s

As far as Michael Bay, who has been criticized for being hard on actors, William says he's just fine. 'Michael is one of the great action film directors of our generation, But Michael is tough. Fact,' he allowed.

'It was an honor to work with him on such an important film. My grandfathers both fought in WWII. I am very proud of that film and that i was able to be a part of.' 

In 2004 he worked with Ashton Kutcher on The Butterfly Effect. 'Ashton was really a very giving actor. That script was complex and people were surprised at the casting choice based on his comedic background,' said Scott.

'He responded with a bad-ass performance. His commitment to the work paid off. I wasn't surprised. our scenes together were very memorable. I really enjoyed working with him.

Flying high: Scott during AMC & Movieline's Hollywood Life Magazine's Young Hollywood Awards show in Los Angeles in 2003

Before the movie came out, Ashton started dating Demi Moore, which William said gave the film a ton of publicity.

'His tabloid relationship really helped sell the movie. I think the media had Ashton and Demi on the cover of all publications for six months prior to the release of the film. Didn't cost production a penny. Thank you. It was very much appreciated.'

In 2009 William left Hollywood. 'My wife's mother became ill with ALS. A disease you do not return from. We wanted to be near her,' he said. 'For all the families and individuals dealing with this my thoughts and prayers go out to you. Only people in the ALS community know how hard the struggle can be. 

'My wife is an angel. she knew to race home to Minnesota with our boys to help and to spend what ever time she still had to comfort and care for her mother. I am very proud of my decision to put my career on hold to help my family in any way that I could.'

Charlene's mother was told she had a year to live but she stuck it out for five more years. Mary Bloom passed away on April 6, 2014.

High praise for him: William said of Chris Pratt: 'He's as close to a real movie star as I've ever met. He is always cool. Yet not a douche. He's very down to earth, he can talk to anyone, about damn near anything'

The family returned to Los Angeles in the spring of 2015. It wasn't long before Scott was cast in The Magnificent Seven. And he said the return to a big-budget film is nice. 'There are more toys,' he joked. 'They gave us boys a bunch of guns and chewing tobacco and built this incredibly life like western town,' he said. 'It's every boy's dream come true.'

And he enjoyed working with Pratt. 'He's as close to a real movie star as I've ever met,' said Scott.

'He is always cool. Yet not a douche. He's very down to earth, he can talk to anyone, about damn near anything. I really enjoyed seeing him be a cowboy. Steve McQueen is my hero. He isn't Steve McQueen, but he is pretty bad ass.'

Next up for William is American Brawler, a bio film about heavy weight title contender Chuck Wepner. It comes out next month.

As far as making a comeback, he says, 'Why not? I left but I'm back. My dream project is to find a way to script and tell the story of what I just told you. A comeback story with all the messy details.'

Another good film: Scott also worked with Jake Gyllenhaal, Chad Lindberg and Chris Owen in October Sky (1999)