Legendary performer Robin Williams is not with us, but countless tales of his genius ensure he remains in the headlines. Be it his hilarious stint as a stand-up comedian or his excellent portrayals of larger-than-life characters, the Aladdin star crafted for himself a special place in the hearts of millions of his fans.
For his co-stars and directors, Williams, who was known for uplifting the mood on sets with his persona, was equally special and often left them impressed with his improvisational skills. The late actor delivered many iconic performances but no character was influenced by his talent in improvisation more than Daniel Hillard.
What Robin Williams Told the Director of Mrs. Doubtfire Before Giving Multiple Takes
For the 1993 comedy, Mrs. Doubtfire, Robin Williams picked a mop and transformed himself into Mrs. Doubtfire, an elderly female housekeeper. His character Daniel Hillard disguises himself after a bitter divorce forces him to stay away from his children held in custody by his former wife.
As fans celebrate the 30th anniversary of the movie, which was a massive hit at the time with a total box office collection of $441.3 million, director Chris Columbus sat down with Business Insider to share his experience of working with the late actor.
Columbus revealed that Williams improvised so much on set that his team “shot almost 2 million feet of film on that picture.” He continued:
“Early on in the process, he went to me, ‘Hey boss, the way I like to work, if you’re up for it, is I’ll give you three or four scripted takes, and then let’s play.’ By saying that, what he meant was he wanted to improvise. And that’s exactly how we shot every scene. We would have exactly what was scripted, and then Robin would go off and it was something to behold.”
Williams was improvising so much that it became tricky for the crew to keep track of his lines because often times one take was completely different from another. Columbus had to shoot the entire movie with four cameras to keep up with the four-time Oscar nominee.
In the same interview, the director suggested a documentary could be made to show Williams’ process, which he described as something “special and magical.”
How Robin Williams Impressed Good Will Hunting Co-star Matt Damon
Williams’ most popular stint in Hollywood remains his portrayal of passionate therapist Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting, which stars Matt Damon in the leading role of Will Hunting, a mathematics genius who struggles to get on the right track.
During the filming of this movie as well, Williams impressed his co-stars by improvising a line in the climax of the romance thriller. After understanding Maguire’s point of view, Will decides to follow his love to California and leaves a note to the professor. The original scene didn’t have any lines for Williams’ character, but he still imparted his magic. Matt Damon revealed in an interview with Vanity Fair:
“… What was scripted was that he just takes a moment and realizes that I’m gone. In true Robin fashion, we did 60 takes. Like we just left the camera rolling and he kept coming out, and kept coming out. He did something different every single time. I remember when he said, ‘Son of a b-tch. He stole my line,’ I grabbed Gus’ shoulders. I felt him tense up like we both knew. We were like, ‘Holy sh-t.’ What a line. How did we not think of that?”
For brilliantly guiding Damon’s character to the right path in the film and delivering an iconic performance, the actor won an Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in 1998.
