“It sounds like I’m pimping for work”: the actors Robin Williams called geniuses
It’s not a moniker he would ever place upon himself, but there were no shortage of peers, colleagues, contemporaries, and fans who’d quite happily call Robin Williams a genius.
Many actors are adamant that comedy is a lot harder to pull off successfully than drama, partly because it’s a more subjective artform laced with unpredictability. Considering he was equally adept at both, Williams earned his spot as one of Hollywood’s perennially popular and well-rounded performers.
A legend of the stand-up circuit, he pivoted into television to become a sitcom star, segued into cinema to hone his improvisational and madcap style by bringing it to the masses, before turning his attention to drama and proving himself to be among the most gifted names in the business. If that’s not the mark of a genius, then it’s hard to gauge what is.
With an Academy Award win from four nominations, two Primetime Emmys for his live comedy prowess, six Golden Globes covering film, television, animation, and lifetime achievement, and five Grammys, Williams’ trophy cabinet was filled to bursting point in an illustration of his multifaceted mastery of several different performative disciplines.
Would he lump himself into the genius category, though? Absolutely not. “Can I call myself a genius? No! I can say I get flashes once in a while,” he explained to Playboy. “These riffs that run through you and you know it’s something you’ve never done before, and that’s great.” However, he drew the line there.
When it came to naming others who he felt deserved genius status, Williams was a lot more forthcoming, with a couple of the usual suspects factoring in. “The Brando man. Mr. Nicholson. Mr. De Niro. Mr. Hoffman, just because he keeps trying different things. Al Pacino. Duvall for his great characters,” he said. “The younger ones? Probably one of the finest actors on film is Gary Oldman. And actresses? Meryl. Susan Sarandon. God, this is hard, it sounds like I’m pimping for work.”
He reserved special mention for “another genius who lives in that painful zone,” one he could identify with after their brilliance was regularly placed in direct opposition to the mental health issues and substance abuse they struggled to shake despite bringing so much joy and entertainment into the lives of others.
“She’s constantly pushing herself to find new stuff and say brilliant things on a consistent level,” Williams opined of Carrie Fisher. “She’s very literate, lives on that painful edge, almost beyond the edge.” The Star Wars favourite was an accomplished actor, screenwriter, novelist, and razor-sharp comedian, who was open and honest about her battles with bipolar disorder and drug addiction at a time when it was a taboo subject for many celebrities. They were kindred spirits in a way, and equally deserving of genius status.
