Robin Williams was one of the greatest stars Hollywood has ever witnessed. The Jumanji star’s acting prowess was unreal. His filmography is a living testament to this fact. Everyone who has worked with him would admit that he was the whole package and always had an ace up his sleeve. One of his aces was his incomparable art of improvisation. Little do most Williams fans know how many of the scenes they witness are improvised. His affinity for improv means that you’ll often end up with more film than necessary. And as it turns out, this extra film can be put to great use.
What made Robin Williams the legend he is?
Robin Williams was a truly versatile star, having shown his mettle with performances over the years. His performance in Mrs. Doubtfire serves as a reminder of that. The late actor pulled off one of the greatest feats in his career with the 1993 film.
The Sally Field starrer did reasonably well, garnering positive reviews and striking a chord with the fans. Much of the credit for the movie’s success must be given to its star cast, who did their job to perfection, doing justice to the script. That doesn’t include Williams. The Good Will Hunting star went above and beyond his call of duty with his improvisations.
Robin Williams would take the script to a whole new place altogether
In an interview celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of Mrs. Doubtfire, director Chris Columbus opened up about the genius of Robin Williams. Everyone was in awe of the Dead Poets Society star’s improvisations, which gave a new dimension to the story altogether. He said (via Deadline)
“We would have exactly what was scripted, and then Robin would go off and it was something to behold. Robin would change every take. So Robin would go to a place where he couldn’t remember much of what he said. Often, he would literally give us a completely different take than what we did doing the written takes.”
Imagine an average of 3-4 improvisations in every scene. All of them are on tape. One would assume that all of it is bound to go to waste. Columbus has other plans though.
A Robin Williams documentary might be on the cards
Ever since working on Mrs. Doubtfire, Chris Columbus has always been in awe of the License to Wed star’s process. And he feels that he has a chance to show it to the world. He said,
“We want to show Robin’s process. There is something special and magical about how he went about his work and I think it would be fun to delve into it.”
That’s easier said than done after the legend’s demise in 2014. But the Home Alone director believed that he already had what he needed. Continuing, he said,
“I mean, there’s 2 million feet of film in that warehouse (the improv scenes in Mrs. Doubtfire) so there could be something we can do with all of that.”
It’s not far off. The idea is achievable. Columbus might have chalked out the plan already.
