Robin Williams grew 'frustrated' over co-star's behavior on Mrs Doubtfire set
The late Robin Williams brought the screen to life with all of his iconic characters. Whether it was the hilarious Genie in Aladdin or the chilling Seymour in drama One Hour Photo, there wasn’t much that could hold the star back.
One of Robin Williams’ most loved films is Mrs Doubtfire. Viewers watch recently divorced Daniel, a voice actor, struggle after splitting from his wife. In order to get a chance to spend more time with his kids, Daniel – played by the movie star – disguises himself as an elderly female housekeeper and works for them. The movie helped cement careers for the beloved cast, like Mara Wilson, who played Natalie and went on to portray Matilda. Despite some of the celebrity actors in the flick, there was one co-star who ‘frustrated’ Robin on set.
Mrs Doubtfire star said Robin Williams was ‘insane’ on set
Robin, who melted fans hearts in Good Will Hunting, or made them laugh in Patch Adams was a perfectionist.
He was a talented comedian who could think quickly on his feet. Due to his incredible way in front of the camera, he would improvise in many of his films. But that didn’t always work out with his other actors beside him when the director yelled ‘action’.
Sally Field, who played his ex-wife Miranda Hillard, described working with Robin. In the film, Miranda is dating Stuart (Pierce Brosnan) after her breakup with Daniel.
But Sally is a professional, with several successful credits under her belt. She’s undertaken many serious parts in her time, including in Forrest Gump and The Amazing Spider-Man, as well as Lincoln.
However, an icon that she is, she would never crack during Robin’s best moments or jokes. Shortly after Robin died, she said he would grow frustrated that she would never laugh or break during a scene, no matter how hilarious he was being.
She told Lisa Wilkinson in Australia during an interview: “What drove him absolutely crazy is that he could never make me laugh. He would never break me up.”
Robin, who was a king in terms of cameo appearances and short scenes in iconic TV shows, was also a perfectionist. He was always full of ideas and wanted to try them all.
Sally explained: “He had endless energy. And he’d want to do take after take after take because every take he would want to do something different.”
Even though it’d make Mrs Doubtfire co-stars “tired”, she admitted that working with Robin was “insane” and “so fun”.
When it went wrong on Mrs Doubtfire set, Robin Williams made it right
No matter how much stars rehearse, or how much time the props department spend on creating the perfect set, it doesn’t always work out.
In the comedy film, one of the movie’s funniest scenes saw Robin take control and make the disaster work for him. When he’s living his double life as dad Daniel and housekeeper Mrs Doubtfire, the social worker Mrs Sellner undertakes a surprise visit to his apartment. Not to give the game away that he is faking an identity of a nanny which would affect his visitation rights for his kids, Robin Williams’ Daniel pretends Mrs Doubtfire is his elderly sister visiting.
But as he wrestles quick-changing between Robin and Mrs Doutbfire, his mask slips off out of the window and is ruined. Now, he uses a meringue pie in the fridge as a cover-up, pretending it’s a face mask.
While filming, however, the studio lights were so hot that they began melting the icing on Robin’s face. This wasn’t planned, and they would battle against the time to get the scene recorded. At the moment when the icing drips off his face into Mrs Sellner’s tea, it was unscripted, but Robin went along with it – and so did his Mrs Doubtfire co-stars. We see Mrs Sellner apply the mask to her own face when she leaves the room.
Unscripted lines that directors left in
Because Robin was so good at thinking on the spot a lot of moments were kept in the final release.
In one of his beloved roles, Good Will Hunting, we see him play Sean Maguire. Sean is a psychiatrist who is trying to help Will (Matt Damon) deal with his past trauma and childhood. He explains to Will he missed one of the biggest baseball games in history to “go see about a girl”. Will called him crazy, but that ‘girl’ would become Sean’s love of his life, and he never regretted it. At the end of the flick, when Will passes up a job opportunity to do the same, he writes a note to his friend where he uses the same expression.
In the script, Robin isn’t meant to say anything, instead close the note, smile and walk back into his house. Instead, Robin tried out a few different variations for the end of the film. In the take where he utters he ‘Stole my line’, Matt Damon reportedly grabbed the director in excitement. He knew it was an ad-lib masterpiece.
Another part of improv in the same movie was when Sean tells Will a story of how his late wife use to fart in her sleep. The whole conversation was made up on the spot between Robin and Matt, and their laughter was genuine. It also had the crew in stitches, too. You can see the camera shake as the operator attempts to stifle his chuckles.
In Good Morning, Vietnam, Robin – who plays Adrian Cronauer – would sit down and give his radio DJ set all off-script. The movie’s producer, Mark Johnson, explained most of the scenes were just them watching the actor do his thing. They would let the cameras roll and basque in how he created something different in every single take.
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