-
Matthew Lawrence reflects on the important life lessons Mrs. Doubtfire costarRobin Williams gave him.
-
He calls his movie dad “definitely the most brilliant artist” he’s ever worked with.
-
Lawrence explains why he wants to ask Williams’ family to use an AI of the late comedian’s voice.
Robin Williams may be gone, but he’s certainly not forgotten — especially not by his young Mrs. Doubtfire costar Matthew Lawrence, who says he’ll never forget the wisdom his movie dad imparted on him.
“I didn’t quite realize it at the time, but that moment there on set of Mrs. Doubtfire, that those six to eight months were the biggest learning curve anyone can get when it comes to making movies and being an entertainer,” Lawrence tells Entertainment Weekly, after being unmasked this week on The Masked Singer.
“And then on top of that, you get a chance to be around Robin Williams and he takes an investment in you, as he does with people. But in particular, he really took an investment with me,” he continues.
In the beloved 1993 film, Lawrence played Chris, one of three young children who get nannied by the titular Mrs. Doubtfire (Williams), who is really their father disguising himself as a female housekeeper in order to spend time with his kids after he loses custody from his ex-wife. Lawrence was just 13 when the film came out.
He says two big lessons Williams showed him were the “type of compassion you need to have for people” and how you “don’t judge until you walk in someone else’s shoes.”
“He really quantified what it was to be a real artist for me in the sense that he was definitely, and I worked with some great people, and he was definitely the most brilliant artist I’ve ever worked with,” Lawrence explains. “But on top of that, he had the compassion, he had the humility, and he also had these things that he struggled with.”
Williams, who died by suicide in 2014 at 63, was open about his struggles with substance abuse throughout his career. And, as Lawrence puts it, he was not afraid to open up to a 12-year-old about it either.
“He really explained his life to me and really brought me in and taught me not just about in front of the camera, but a lot about the behind the camera as well, and how he felt that substances really further pushed his brain to not function properly,” Lawrence recalls. “And he really opened up with me, and I’ll never forget it. There were times he would just grab me and he’d be like, ‘Don’t put that stuff in your body. If I could go back and tell myself, this is why I’m telling you, don’t put that stuff in your body.”
Lawrence says that, as he grew up in Hollywood, he did in fact stay away from “that stuff,” and he credits his experience with Williams as being the driving force behind that. Today, more than 10 years after the comedian’s death, Lawrence says he is still touched by his presence.
Want more movie news? Sign up for Entertainment Weekly‘s free newsletter to get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more.
“Man, it’s a real shame that he’s not with us. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t hear his voice,” he says of Williams, adding, “I even wish, now with artificial intelligence, I kind of want to go to his family and be like, would you guys allow me to use his voice for some sort of creative expression? Because I hear it every day, in my head.”
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
The post “Mrs. Doubtfire” child star Matthew Lawrence shares important warning Robin Williams gave him: ‘I’ll never forget it’ appeared first on Entertainment Weekly.
