The director who left Robin Williams in awe in 1991: “He knows every movie that’s ever been made”
To become a successful director is one thing, but to become the kind of director who all actors adore working with is another thing entirely.
It takes real skill to be a masterful filmmaker while also ensuring that you keep up a good rapport with the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people involved in bringing your film to life. I mean, it certainly can’t be easy to keep your cool while working in such a high-pressure environment, so you’ve got to hand it to the directors who have been applauded by actors for being so receptive and kind.
For Robin Williams, there was one director in particular whom he lauded praise on, and he was quite simply amazed by how well-versed in the world of cinema he really was. Of course, he was talking about Steven Spielberg, who directed the actor in his fantasy adventure film Hook, in which he played an adult version of Peter Pan who seems to have forgotten his own childhood.
“Steven has been amazing,” Williams told Playboy, “At first you think, here’s a guy who basically deals in visuals. But no, he knows every movie that’s ever been made”. It seems like the pair got on well, with Williams intrigued by Spielberg’s directorial style, adding, “He knows if someone did something before. And from that, he can give you an idea that goes beyond that”.
The actor continued, “The weird thing that I never expected from him was this humanistic, behavioural directing. I thought he would be more into special effects. Just the opposite. The special effects he likes, they’re fun, but he’ll suggest pulling back or adding a little bit more, trying things to make the story have a reality base… The effects will be like this wonderful icing. But if the cake sucks, the icing won’t mean shit.”
So, Williams apparently had a great time filming Hook, but not everyone shared a similar experience, such as Julia Roberts, who starred as Tinker Bell, clashed with Spielberg during filming, and the pair have never worked together again since.
“It was an unfortunate time for us to work together,” Spielberg told 60 Minutes, which came after incessant rumours about Roberts’ ‘diva-ish’ behaviour on set.
Yet, to be fair to Roberts, she was going through a rough time in her private life, having called off her wedding to Kiefer Sutherland at the last minute following the discovery of his supposed infidelity. Clearly, every actor is going to have a different experience of shooting a film compared to their co-stars, and in this instance, it was Williams who emerged from Hook with the most admiration for Spielberg.
Still, Hook was a commercial success that only elevated the positions of both Williams and Roberts in Hollywood, with the movie becoming one of 1991’s most popular films at the box office. It’s not one of Spielberg’s greatest, though, which is hardly a surprise when you consider that this is a Peter Pan sequel starring Williams as a grown-up version of the beloved childhood character. Let’s be real, it was never exactly going to be a masterpiece.
