It's already been ten years since the wonderful Robin Williams left us… In homage and memory of this actor adored by the public, Vanity Fair has surveyed around twenty talents who talk about him.
He was able to make a depressed gorilla smile again. Irrigate his benevolent energy and cheer up Steven Spielberg in the middle of filming Schindler's List. Make millions of spectators laugh out loud, and make them shed torrents of tears.
To the general public, he was the Genie, Professor Keating, Peter Pan, Alan Parrish, Mrs. Doubtfire and even Popeye. On August 11, 2014, the comedian adored by spectators around the world took his own life at the age of 63, in despair over the effects of Lewy body disease which he suffered from. Ten years have passed since his premature death which shocked the whole world. And Robin Williams is sorely missed in the landscape…
In tribute and remembrance, Vanity Fair had the moving initiative of surveying about twenty Hollywood talents who rubbed shoulders with the late artist. Shared experiences on a shoot, first meeting… Selected excerpts.
“A dream come true”
“I was with my parents at the improv comedy club in Los Angeles” remembers Ben Stiller, who worked with Williams on the Night at the Museum saga. “A child in this place for adults, at the time of Mork & Mindy. He whispered in my ear, 'Stay close to your mother. You'll be safe.' Of course, I was panicked. Working with him years later was a childhood dream come true.”
“Kindness was my first impression. He never felt like his job was done until he made everyone feel comfortable and happy.” comments Sarah Michelle Gellar, who starred alongside him on the series The Crazy Ones.
Gale Hansen, who played student Charlie Dalton on Dead Poets Society, remembers. “I first met him at a script reading for Dead Poets Society. Robin was looking around to see who we were. After the reading, he whispered in my ear, 'We have a lot in common.'”
I looked at him and thought, “We have nothing in common. I'm nobody.” He said, “You studied with Sandy Meisner. I studied with John Houseman at the Juilliard School. He opened up to each other, to each child. We were intimidated, he took the anxiety out of the relationship.”
“He is hypersensitive, and surprisingly gentle.”
Al Pacino starred alongside him in Christopher Nolan's solid thriller Insomnia. “I only knew him through work and he was one of the most caring and pleasant people I have ever met in that context. He is hypersensitive, which is part of his gift, and surprisingly gentle.”
Actress Sally Field, who starred with Williams in the cult comedy Mrs Doubtfire, tells a moving anecdote. “I've never shared this story before. I was in the RV outside the courtroom where we were shooting the divorce scene. My dad had a stroke a few years before and was in a care facility.
I got a phone call from the doctor saying my father had passed away, from a massive stroke. He asked me if I wanted them to put him on life support. I said, “No, he didn't want that. Let him go. And please lean over and say, 'Sally says goodbye.'”
I was of course beside myself. I came on set trying with all my might to act. I wasn't crying. Robin came, took me aside on set, and asked me:
– “Are you okay?”
– Yes why?
– I don't know, I was just asking.
– No Robin, it's not okay. My father just passed away.
– Oh my god we have to get you out of here now.
And he did: they shot without me for the rest of the day. I could go home, call my brother and make arrangements. That's a side of Robin that people rarely knew about: he was very sensitive and intuitive.”
Columbia Pictures
Robert De Niro made a very beautiful film with Williams, The Awakening. “When I was a kid, I had a broken nose. Robin and I had a scene where we were (physically) struggling, and his hand or elbow came off and hit my nose. I went to a doctor. What he actually did was put it back the way it should have been. He realigned it. But he felt terrible. I said, 'No, no, no, you've done something incredible.'”
Jeff Bridges, who was his partner in Terry Gilliam's underrated (and terrific) Fisher King, talks about his generosity. “When we lost a house in the earthquake (the one from January 1994 in Northridge, California), He was the first friend to call me: “Do you need anything? How are you doing financially?” Another example of his generosity: Robin had just done Dead Poets Society with Peter Weir, and acted as my agent, recommending me to him for a role in Second state“.
So long the artist…