Lisa Jakub, Mara Wilson & Matthew Lawrence, then and now.
Before taking on one of the most legendary roles of his career, Robin Williams was concerned if audiences would really believe he was the elderly English nanny, Mrs. Doubtfire. That’s why, according to his co-star Matthew Lawrence, he put on the character’s full makeup to see if he could fool real people on the streets of San Francisco.
32 years after its 1993 release, his on-screen children, Mara Wilson, Lawrence, and Lisa Jakub, participated in a Mrs. Doubtfire reunion panel at The Hollywood Show in Burbank and shared some of their favorite memories and behind-the-scenes stories of working with the beloved actor and comedian.
Robin Williams supported Lisa Jakub after she was expelled from school
Speaking to a packed ballroom at the Burbank Marriott, Jakub, who played William’s eldest daughter Lydia, revealed that Williams supported her when, during the film’s long shoot, she was kicked out of school.
“I was doing my schoolwork on set. It is a legal requirement for child actors to do three hours of schooling per day on set, and then I was mailing my work back to my school in Canada. Did this for several months,” she told the audience.
“And at a certain point, it became too much work for the teachers at my high school…And so they sent a letter back with my schoolwork saying, ‘This was fun, but don't come back to school. This is too much work for our teachers.”
Jakub, who was 14 at the time, said that Williams could tell that she was upset.
“He asked me what was wrong. I explained what had happened, and he wrote a letter to my principal, which I still have. It was an incredibly kind, lovely letter saying, "Lisa is just trying to pursue her career and get her education at the same time, so can you please support her in that?"
Despite William’s best efforts, Jakub’s school refused to reinstate her, but she never forgot his act of kindness towards her.
“He really kind of went out of his way for me, which he did for all of us in various ways. And we all had different kinds of connections with him. And he went through the trouble to connect with us as individuals. I can tell you it did not happen on every set.”
Doubtfire in public
Lawrence recalled watching Williams try out his Doubtfire character on unsuspecting members of the public.
“He would want to try out the Mrs. Doubtfire thing in public,” Lawrence said. “So he'd grab someone, at this time, it was me, and go for a walk on the street, get into a conversation with some people and just see if he could pull off being my nanny. It worked every time. In fact, he had them laughing and enjoying life. These people would walk away thinking, ‘Oh, what a lovely lady.’”
Robin Williams made kids laugh on set
Wilson was only five years old during the film’s production in 1992, and Mrs. Doubtfire was her first acting role. She recalled that despite spending four hours in makeup every day to transform into the role, Williams would always take time to make the children on set laugh.
“One of my favorite memories is when we were doing the petting zoo scene, and we were outside, and I'm riding the pony, and he took his hat off, and he put oats into his hat for the pony to eat. And the pony ate it out of his hat. Then he turned to me with this hat, full of oats and pony slobber, and said, ‘Wanna wear it?’” Wilson said, laughing.
“He was really great when he had an audience. I think people are surprised that he was actually quite introverted at times. But with kids, he would just be so funny, and he would just come alive.”
Pierce Brosnan reunion
But Williams wasn’t the only actor on set with a strong sense of humor. Wilson remembered working with Pierce Brosnan, who played Stu, Williams’ romantic rival, and enjoying his unique sense of humor.
“He was really funny, too. People don't realize how funny he is. He's got that sort of dry Irish wit. I remember my whole family cheering when we found out he was going to be Bond because we loved him. I don't know if you guys say this, but I still say that James Bond is my stepfather.”
Jakub added that the trio had a small cast reunion with Brosnan seven years ago.
“It was so nice to be able to hang out with him as adults, and he just seemed really proud of us that we had grown up in this kind of awkward stepdad kind of way, which was really sweet.”
Mrs. Doubtfire was Williams’ biggest live-action hit, grossing $441 million at the global box office and won Williams a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
