- Photo:
- Mrs. Doubtfire
- 20th Century Fox
What People Who Worked With Robin Williams Said About Him
- Photo:
- Patch Adams
- Universal Pictures
12,971 VOTESRobin Williams Entertained Sick Children While Filming 'Patch Adams'
Cameron Brooke Stanley was 7 years old and fighting cancer when she met Robin Williams on the set of Patch Adams in 1998. Stanley remembered Williams being just like the kind doctor he portrayed in the movie, spending time with her and the other children on set who were sick:
He was such a real person so when, even off the set when we weren't filming, he was just trying to hang out with the kids and trying to make us forget that we were sick... Not just when the cameras are on, when they're off, he just wants to be someone's friend, like a best friend. He wants to make someone laugh that's sad. He was just so wonderful.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Jumanji
- Sony Pictures Releasing
22,886 VOTES'Jumanji' Star Bradley Pierce Recalls Williams Standing Up For Him During Production
Bradley Pierce was just 13 when he starred in the blockbuster Jumanji film with Robin Williams in 1995. Speaking with CBC Listen in 2020, Pierce recalled Williams standing up for him and the other cast members during a particularly grueling day on set:
We were filming the monsoon scene and I think it was day 7 or 8 in that rain tank. We were all in wetsuits, but spending 8 hours in the water was really draining. It was coming to the end of the day, and children on set can only be on set for a certain number of hours. Producers approached our parents and said, "We've only got a half hour left of shooting, is there anyway we can do a little bit of overtime just to get it done?"
Robin caught wind of these conversations happening and apparently he pulled the director and producers aside and said, "No we're not doing any extra time. You're gonna let everyone out of the pool now and we're going to be come back next week." For all the dollars that would have cost, nobody else could have stood up the way he did. In addition to being warm and generous and kind, he was also very protective of all of us. He told everyone, '"we're done today, time to go home."
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Mrs. Doubtfire
- 20th Century Fox
33,156 VOTESRobin Williams Wrote A Letter To Lisa Jakub's High School, Encouraging Them To Let Her Return
When 14-year-old Lisa Jakub filmed Mrs. Doubtfire with Robin Williams in 1993, she continued her high school work via correspondence, just like many other child actors did at the time. Although she kept up with her studies, the school decided to not let her return since her unique situation created extra work for teachers. Jakub wrote in a blog post how Williams stuck up for her, writing a letter to the school on her behalf:
When I arrived at work the next day, Robin noticed that I was upset and asked me what was wrong. I explained what had happened, and shortly after that, he handed me a letter that he had written to my school. He explained that I was just trying to continue my education while pursuing my career. He wrote embarrassingly kind things about my character and my work, and requested that they reconsider and allow me to return to my classes.
When I told him I still didn't think they would take me back, he said, "It's kinda like Amnesty International. That school just needs to know that people know the truth." The school framed the letter. They hung it in the principal's office. But they didn't invite me to return to school. But here's what matters from that story. Robin stood up for me. He was in my corner. I was only 14, but I had already seen that I was in an industry that was full of back-stabbing. And it was entirely clear that Robin had my back.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Mrs. Doubtfire
- 20th Century Fox
42,136 VOTESMara Wilson Says Williams Really Knew How To Communicate With Children
Mara Wilson filmed the huge hit Mrs. Doubtfire with Williams in 1993, at the tender age of 5. After his passing, she paid tribute to the actor with a blog post remembering the delight that Robin Williams took in entertaining herself and the other children on set:
Robin would do anything to make me and the other kids laugh. He seemed to know instinctively what we would find funny... [but] my strongest impression came when we saw each other for the first time that day. Robin [came] to me from across the room, got down to my level, and whispered "Hi, how are you?" He asked how my family was doing, how school was, never raising his voice and only sometimes making eye contact. He seemed so vulnerable. "So this is what Mom meant," I thought. It was as if I was seeing him for the first time. He was a person now.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Night at the Museum
- 20th Century Fox
51,732 VOTESBen Stiller Says That Robin Williams Was Kind To Every One Of His Fans
Ben Stiller starred with Robin Williams in the Night at the Museum trilogy, playing a security guard to Williams's rendition of Teddy Roosevelt. Stiller recalled Williams as an incredibly kind actor who genuinely cared about other people. Stiller tweeted:
I met him when I was 13 and a huge fan and he was so kind and I watched him be kind to every fan I ever saw him with. And with other actors he was so generous and brilliant. He made everyone feel special and equal around him even though he was the genius. His heart was so big and even if you didn't know him, what he gave everyone was that same spirit in his work, so we all felt it.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Hook
- TriStar Pictures
61,586 VOTESDante Basco Learned How To Be A Star While Working On 'Hook' With Robin Williams
Steven Spielberg's 1991 Peter Pan fantasy, Hook, featured huge stars like Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman, and Julia Roberts along with many young first-time actors. Dante Basco, who played Rufio, the leader of the Lost Boys, remembered Williams as a mentor on set:
I think for all of us [Robin's passing] was the death of our childhood. There's sadness there, also there's a lot of space to kinda celebrate one of the most legendary artists of our time. He really taught me at a young age what it means to be a star, what it means to be a leader on a set. Everything you want Robin Williams to be he delivered in spades.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- The Birdcage
- MGM/UA Distribution Co.
71,320 VOTESHank Azaria Remembers Robin Williams Improvising On The Set Of 'The Birdcage'
Robin Williams starred with Hank Azaria in 1996's The Birdcage, which included both scripted and unscripted elements. Azaria recalled the joy of working with Williams and how genuinely he cared about the other people on set:
[Williams] was always joking around and being really silly and improvising, not just within the script, but at anything that came along in life. If he asked you what you did that weekend and you said I went bowling, he would do a ten minute routine on bowling. [He] was always a very sweet, caring guy. He had a very sweet, calm side. He really took a genuine interest in people around him, much more so than most movie stars.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Good Will Hunting
- Miramax Films
82,201 VOTESMatt Damon Believes He Owes 'Everything' To Robin Williams
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck's film, Good Will Hunting, made stars out of both young men, but that was largely thanks to the presence of Robin Williams. Williams lends gravitas to the film, which was written by Damon and Affleck. In fact, Damon credits Williams with launching his and Ben Affleck's careers, stating:
Ben and I owe everything to him. He said yes to our movie and he got it made. I could never thank him enough. I look around at the life I have and how blessed I feel and so much of it started with him.
Damon remembers Williams as a positive force in the world:
He was amazingly generous with that time he gave to help other people but just in life, if you walked down the street and if somebody stopped him he would talk to that person, he engaged with every single person and he understood at some level, the impact that he had on people. He could see people light up when they saw him. I think that is what I carry with me... the joy he brought in my life.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Death To Smoochy
- Warner Brothers
91,634 VOTESDanny DeVito Almost Died From Laughter While Swimming With Robin Williams
Danny DeVito and Robin Williams starred together in the bizarre Death to Smoochy in 2002. DeVito remembered that Williams could always make the people around him laugh, even if it created a dangerous situation:
I laughed my a-- off with him. He once almost killed me in a pool. I’m not a great swimmer, I was in the deep end and he was holding court, and I never laughed so hard - I swallowed a big gulp of water and choked for five minutes.
DeVito was pulled out of the pool by other guests, but they all continued the hilarity:
Everybody was laughing at me. It was pretty good. They did help me out of the pool. I don’t remember [the joke that made me laugh so hard]. He used to go off on rants. It could be airplanes, bicycles, anything. He was such a clown and I loved him for that.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Dead Poets Society
- Buena Vista Pictures
101,261 VOTESRobin Williams Changed Ethan Hawke's Ideas About Acting
Ethan Hawke starred alongside Robin Williams in the powerful 1989 film, Dead Poets Society, and came to think of the older man as a mentor, even though Hawke initially believed that Williams didn't like him. Hawke explained in an interview:
He gave me the first taste of what acting could be. When it goes really well, you disappear and you’re in service of a larger story. I did a scene with Robin, he asked me to sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world. It was an amazing experience because the deeper into that scene I got, by the time the day was over I couldn’t remember what had happened. It was the first taste of how positive and how beautiful performance could be. It’s part of a collective imagination when something goes right like that it has reverberations that last a long time.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Father's Day
- Warner Bros
111,703 VOTESRobin Williams Pranked Billy Crystal By Leaving Him Hilarious And Long Voicemails
The friendship between Robin Williams and Billy Crystal remains one of the most cherished in Hollywood history. The two comedians made the 1997 film Father's Day together, regularly worked together at charity events, and also maintained a close, personal relationship. Williams would frequently call Crystal and leave him rambling comedic voicemails pretending to be another person. Crystal recalled in the documentary about Williams's life, Come Inside My Mind, an occasion when Williams left him a message shortly after Ronald Reagan's death. "I'm in this strange place, and it seems to be quite hot here." At the screening of the documentary, Crystal remembered Williams:
The world is a darker and lonelier place for a lot of us, for a lot of reasons... but rejoice in the fact that you had him for as long as you did. Rejoice in the fact that you witnessed some really amazing comedy, some brilliant receptions, and he broke your heart in the same way as an actor.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Night at the Museum
- 20th Century Fox
121,224 VOTESRami Malek Said That Robin Williams Could 'Light Up The World'
Rami Malek starred with Robin Williams in the Night at the Museum franchise released in 2006, 2009, and 2014. When speaking with Jimmy Fallon about his late co-star, Malek recalled an experience he had with Williams while filming the third installment:
On the third one, we're shooting at the British Museum at night and we have the place all to ourselves. And Robin, you could tell something was happening with him. He would go on these riffs every once in a while and light up the world and you'd be like "Oh my God, who are you?" and then dip back down into this other place.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- Aladdin
- Buena Vista Pictures
131,323 VOTESThe Aladdin Cast Calls Working With Robin Williams 'A Dream Come True'
Disney's Aladdin is one of the most beloved animated films of all time, due in large part to the incredible performance of Robin Williams as the zany and sweet Genie. In a 2021 zoom chat with the Aladdin cast, they remembered their time with Williams as the best memory they have of making the film. Scott Weinger, the voice of Aladdin, recalls, "It was a dream come true." Unlike modern animated films in which each actor is recorded separately from their cast mates, the 1992 animated feature was recorded in a studio with the cast interacting with each other
My theory is that he improv'd a lot. So there was no way to record him on his own and then just splice it altogether. You never knew what he was going to say and then we had to change our reactions. But it was a lucky break.
- Photo:
- Photo:
- lev radin
- Shutterstock
14452 VOTESOn Late Night with Seth Meyers, Harvey Fierstein discussed how his role in Mrs. Doubtfire came to be. In the ‘90s comedy, Fierstein portrayed Robin Williams's brother, the makeover master. But Fierstein didn't have to audition for the part, instead, Williams hired him because of how poorly he did at a stand-up event.
I was asked - Lily Tomlin asked me to do a benefit with her and Robin Williams to raise money for this movie they were - a documentary. And I thought I just had to introduce them, but when I got there, they said, “No, no no, you have to do a half-hour of stand-up.” I said, “But I ain't got no half-hour of stand-up.” And they said, “Well, just say something.” So I looked at my bag. I was filming a movie with Alicia Witt, and I had no clothes with me, but I had, like, plaid shirts and dungarees or whatever. I said, “I'll do a lesbian fashion show. This is San Francisco. This is gonna be gangbusters." … They had to send guards to get me out of town. And I was so bad, and they hated me so much, they just kept booing. They couldn't even hear the jokes. They just were booing. And Robin stood in the wings, watching, ‘cause as a stand-up comic, he knew what it was like to bomb like that. And I just kept looking over, and he’s laughing. And in the other wings, Lily is laughing. And I said, “Oh this is great.” So I lived through that night… Anyway, the next day I got a phone call saying, “You want to play my brother?”
- Photo:
- Photo:
- The Birdcage
- MGM/UA Distribution Co.
15375 VOTESHe Protected Nathan Lane From Being Outed By Oprah Winfrey
In 1996, Williams and Nathan Lane starred in Mike Nichols's The Birdcage. The comedy, an English-language remake of the movie and musical La Cage aux Folles, is about a gay couple who run a Miami nightclub where drag queens perform, including Lane's character.
By the time he was 21, Lane had already told his family he was gay, and people in the theater community knew as well. But during the publicity tour for The Birdcage, Lane still wasn't prepared to share that information with the rest of the world. He said on the Today show in 2023:
I just wanted to talk about I finally got a big part in a movie and I didn’t want to make it about my sexuality, although it was sort of unavoidable because of the nature of the film and the character.
Before he and Williams appeared on Oprah Winfrey's show to promote The Birdcage, Lane told his co-star he was worried Winfrey might try to get him to talk about his sexuality, and he wasn't ready.
When Winfrey indeed steered the on-air conversation in that direction, Lane said, Williams saved him:
She was like, “How come you’re so good at that girlie stuff? Are you worried about being typecast?” And then Robin sort of swoops in and diverts Oprah, goes off on a tangent and protects me because he was a saint.
- Photo:
