Mrs. Doubtfire It featured an all-star cast including Robin Williams, Sally Field, Pierce Brosnan, and Harvey Fierstein. And while hard work is an essential ingredient in any successful film, Williams made sure his supporting cast didn't push their limits.
In a new interview Vanity FairOscar-winning actress Sally Field looks back on working with Williams on the beloved 1993 film. When she lost her father one day during filming, Williams made sure she could take time to mourn him, but instead forced her to.
“I was in the trailer outside the courthouse where we were shooting the divorce scene. My dad had had a stroke a few years ago and was in a care facility. I got a call from the doctor saying my dad had died — a massive stroke. He asked me if I wanted them to put him on resuscitation. I said, 'No, he didn't want that. Let him go. And please lean over and say, 'Sally says goodbye,'” she recalled.
“Of course I was beside myself,” she continued. “I came on set trying to act as hard as I could. I wasn't crying. Robin came to me, pulled me off the set and said, 'Are you OK?'”
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He first denied having anything against her before admitting that his father had just died. Williams wasted no time in taking action. “Oh my God, we have to get you here right now,” the actor recalled her saying.
“And she did it—they shot around me for the rest of the day,” he concluded. “I could go back home, call my brother, and make arrangements. That was a side of Robin that people rarely know: She was very sensitive and intuitive.”
Mrs. Doubtfire currently streaming on Hulu and Disney+.