The only actor who left Terry Gilliam awestruck: “He’s many different things”
When you get your big break as a part of Monty Python, the standard is set very high very early. That’s exactly what happened to Terry Gilliam, the American-born giant foot enthusiast who served as the troupe’s chief animator during their pomp. Following his departure from Python, Gilliam went on to a new career as a feature filmmaker, producing an array of movies just as nutty as anything he came up with inside the Flying Circus.
Some of his best-known films include 12 Monkeys, a bizarre sci-fi romp starring Bruce Willis and Robert De Niro, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the Hunter S Thompson-inspired black comedy that served as both an advert for and a warning against any sort of psychoactives. Then there’s the really weird stuff, like the 2005 fantasy Tideland. To try and explain Tideland would take about a week-and-a-half – it has to be seen to be believed. Even then, it’s a big ask.
It should come as no surprise, given his propensity for madness, that Gilliam was a big fan of Robin Williams. He cast the eclectic comedian in two of his films, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, in which he is credited under the pseudonym ‘Ray D Tutto’, and The Fisher King, for which he was nominated for a ‘Best Actor’ Oscar. The pair first met backstage on an episode of Saturday Night Live, and, on the third anniversary of his death, the director said a few words to remember the fallen icon.
“I still find Robin an elusive creature,” he told GQ while reflecting on his late colleague. “There’s a kind of madness in him that is wonderful. When he does something funny, he’s almost in awe of it himself. He’s many different things. His confidence comes from his knowledge that he can always pull something out of the hat.”
The Fisher King is about a former radio DJ (Jeff Bridges) who attempts to assist a homeless man (Williams) after finding out he accidentally ruined his life. To get into character, Williams would walk the streets of Manhattan at night, taking in the various beggars that lined the sidewalks. Gilliam would accompany him sometimes. “Robin would always stop and talk to the panhandlers and the homeless people,” he remembered. “He gave away a lot of money to people on the street.” He also recalled an improvised routine Williams gave when morale on set was low, which the filmmaker credited with getting them through the shoot.
Williams really believed in The Fisher King. He put himself through a huge amount of emotional pain performing the scene where his character recounts his wife’s murder, doing the scene over and over again in an attempt to get it right. Gilliam himself had to step in and tell him to stop.
The world lost an absolute treasure when it said goodbye to Robin Williams. Gilliam was one of many people who witnessed his whirlwind of hilarity up close and personal, and whose own career was given a lift by it. The Fisher King and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen were two relatively small parts of his filmography, but for the man who directed them, they left a major impression.
