Robin Williams’ act of generosity to ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ child actor revealed
For millions, watching Mrs. Doubtfire is a fond childhood memory, cementing Robin Williams, who played the titular character, as a comedic hero. However, out of character, he was just as loveable, according to the actors who played his kids in the film.
On a recent episode of the Brotherly Love podcast, Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence and Mara Wilson were invited to discuss their recollections of filming the iconic family comedy. Jakub, who played the eldest child, 14-year-old Lydia, revealed that Williams helped her out when she got expelled from school.
The actor explained, “I’m Canadian. I was attending high school in Canada, then I left for four months to film the movie. We were going to set up this system, pre-internet, where I’d mail my school work back and forth to the school. We did that for a while.”
Yet, the school weren’t keen on this set-up, despite the fact that she’d spent several hours a day studying in between filming. “We were a couple of months into filming, and my school in Canada sent a note saying: ‘This isn’t working for us anymore, don’t come back,’” she added.
“Yeah, 9th grade. I was devastated. It was just so heartbreaking because I had this life that was very unusual, and that was the one normal thing,” Jakub said. However, Williams knew that he had to do something, so he contacted the young actor’s school via letter, asking them to reconsider their choice.
“The amazing thing was Robin saw that I was upset — he asked me what was going on. He wrote a letter to my principal saying that he wanted them to rethink this decision and that I was just trying to pursue my education and career at the same time, and could they please support me in this.” Unfortunately for Jakub, while the school was impressed by Williams’ correspondence with them, they were stilln’t interested in having Jakub back.
“The principal got the letter, framed the letter, put it up in the office, and didn’t ask me to come back. Amazing,” she continued.
Mrs Doubtfire was a success, winning an Academy Award for ‘Best Makeup’. Many critics heralded the movie’s sense of humour while noting its exploration of more complex themes, such as divorce. The movie was an important role for Wilson, who would go on to nab the title role of Matilda in Danny Devito’s adaptation a few years later.
Jakub stopped acting in 2001, with Mrs Doubtfire remaining her biggest role. Williams sadly passed away in 2014.
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