Mrs. Doubtfire Director Reveals The Unscripted Brilliance of Robin Williams
To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the film classic, Mrs. Doubtfire director Chris Columbus shared Robin Williams' spontaneity behind the scenes.
SUMMARY
- The late Robin Williams showcased his comedic genius and improvisational talent in his memorable performance in Mrs. Doubtfire, leaving a lasting legacy.
- Director Chris Columbus revealed the extraordinary filming process, with Williams improvising in every scene, resulting in a vast amount of footage.
- Over 900 boxes of film containing behind-the-scenes clips and outtakes from Mrs. Doubtfire are stored in a warehouse, potentially leading to the creation of a documentary exploring Williams’ creative process.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the comedy film Mrs. Doubtfire. The movie classic not only delighted audiences but also showcased the talent of the late Robin Williams.
In a recent interview with Business Insider, director Chris Columbus shed light on the extraordinary filming process, as he revealed the sheer volume of footage shot due to Williams’ improvisational genius. The late actor is known for his incomparable wit and versatility, as Williams brought to life one of his most memorable characters in Mrs. Doubtfire. He portrayed a recently-divorced actor who adopts the guise of an elderly female housekeeper to stay close to his children.
Columbus recounted:
“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’ performance prompted Columbus to adapt his filming strategy. Columbus further added:
“The poor script supervisor. Remember, this is the early 1990s, she wasn’t typing what he was saying. She was handwriting it and Robin would change every take. So Robin would go to a place where he couldn’t remember much of what he said. We would go to the script supervisor and ask her and sometimes she didn’t even get it all. Often, he would literally give us a completely different take than what we did doing the written takes.”
Celebrating 30 Years of Mrs. Doubtfire: Uncovering the Genius of Robin Williams
Mrs. Doubtfire
“It got to the point that I had to shoot the entire movie with four cameras to keep up with him,” the director continued. “None of us knew what he was going to say when he got going and so I wanted a camera on the other actors to get their reactions…[the studio was] loving what they were seeing. Did they watch everything? I don’t think so. We shot almost 2 million feet of film on that picture.”
The film is undoubtedly one of Williams’ best comedies, and the legacy of Mrs. Doubtfire, along with Williams’ performance, extends beyond the film itself. Columbus revealed that over 900 boxes of film, containing used footage, outtakes, and behind-the-scenes clips, are stored in a warehouse, waiting to be explored. The director expressed a desire to sift through this treasure trove to create a documentary showcasing Williams’ creative process.
“There are roughly 972 boxes of footage from ‘Doubtfire’ — footage we used in the movie, outtakes, behind-the-scenes footage — in a warehouse somewhere and we would like to hire an editor to go in and look at all of that footage. We want to show Robin’s process. There is something special and magical about how he went about his work and I think it would be fun to delve into it. I mean, there’s 2 million feet of film in that warehouse so there could be something we can do with all of that.”
As Mrs. Doubtfire continues to be a fan favorite, available for streaming on Disney+, the stories behind its creation add layers to our appreciation of the film. The revelation of the extensive improvisation and the potential for a documentary provide a deeper understanding of the film’s legacy.
