The Hollywood Show: Robin Williams Fooled Strangers as Mrs. Doubtfire, Costar Reveals
What To Know
- Robin Williams’ transformation into Mrs. Doubtfire showcases his comedic genius and emotional depth.
- Williams enjoyed testing his Mrs. Doubtfire persona in public.
- His kindness extended off-screen as each child actor shares a story about working with him.
Three decades ago, Robin Williams donned a gray wig, glasses, a pink cardigan, and a flawless accent to become Mrs. Doubtfire, one of the most beloved comedy characters in film history. The heartfelt comedy became an instant classic, showcasing Williams’ unmatched ability to balance laugh-out-loud humor with genuine emotional depth.
Playing the part of Daniel Hillard, the fun-loving father of three whose divorce leads him to devise an increasingly elaborate way to stay close to his children, Williams perfectly embodied the character’s warmth and humor. His unforgettable transformation into the elderly Scottish nanny Mrs. Doubtfire turned him into a cultural phenomenon and remains one of the most iconic performances of his career.
At the Hollywood Show, Williams’ onscreen children Matthew Lawrence (Chris), Mara Wilson (Natalie) and Lisa Jakub spoke of working with the comedy legend, who died passed away in 2014. Each had their own memorable experience with him on the set.
Karen Ruud
“There’s so much. It’s hard to pick one. But if I had to, it’s probably when he would want to try out the Mrs. Doubtfire thing in public,” said Lawrence. “So he would grab someone — this time it was me — and go for a walk in the street, and get into a conversation with some people, and see if he can pull off being my nanny. It worked every time. In fact, he had them laughing, enjoying life. These people walked away thinking, ‘What a lovely lady.'”
“One of my favorite memories is when we were doing the petting zoo scene. We were outside, and I was riding the pony, and he took his hat off, and he put oats into his hat for the pony to eat,” recalled Wilson. “He turned to me with this hat filled with oats and pony slobber and said, ‘Wanna wear it?’ And that’s just classic Robin.
“I must of made a disgusted face because I remember them yelling cut and everyone laughing after that,” continued Wilon. “He knew what to do to make kids laugh. He made little hand puppets that would argue back and forth with each other.”
20th Century Fox/courtesy Everett Collection
“He was really great when he had an audience. I think people were surprised he was quite introverted at times. But with kids, he was so funny, he just came alive,” explained Wilson.
“When I got the role of Lydia in Mrs. Doubtfire, I was going to a regular school — I’m Canadian, [so this was in] Canada — so I did three or four weeks at my school in Canada, and then I left to shoot Mrs. Doubtfire for four or five months,” explained Jakub. “This was in the days before the Internet, so I was doing my school work on set. It is a legal requirement for child actors to do three or four hours of schooling per day on set, then I was mailing my work back to school in Canada.
“I did this for several months, but at some point, it became too much work for my teachers in Canada,” continued the actress. “So they sent a letter back saying, ‘This was fun, but don’t come back. This is too much work for our teachers.’ I was very upset — being kicked out of school when you are 14 is kind of upsetting.”
The Everett Collection
Robin is the kind of person who, if he saw anyone was upset or not okay, he would check on us,” said Jakub. “He wrote a letter to my principal that was an incredibly kind, lovely letter that said, ‘Lisa is just trying to pursue her career and get her education at the same time. Can you please support her in this?'”
“So the principal got the letter, framed the letter, and put it up in the principal’s office. He did not ask me to come back and finish school, so it didn’t work,” revealed Jakub.
“But the story isn’t about how it didn’t work, but how kind Robin was. It’s a story about how Robin saw some kid we were working with who he did not have to take the time to care about, and he took the time to write this unbelievable letter. And he went out of his way for me, which he did for all of us in various ways.”
— Addition reporting from Kareen Ruud
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