Robin Williams on the best directors he ever worked with: “I’ve been so blessed”
While Robin Williams is best known for his beloved comedic roles, the late actor also delivered several serious and deeply influential performances throughout his decades-long career.
From the iconic role as a deceptive housekeeper in Mrs Doubtfire to the compassionate psychologist Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting, Williams worked with some of the most prominent directors in cinema and, in the later years of his career, could have chosen virtually any filmmaker to collaborate with. Among them was every film bro’s favourite director, Christopher Nolan, with whom Williams worked before Nolan achieved global prominence with his Batman films.
With a career as illustrious as his, narrowing down the directors he enjoyed working with most would surely be a challenge. However, in September 2013—less than a year before his untimely death—Williams gave fans a rare chance to connect with him through Reddit’s Ask Me Anything session. Unsurprisingly, the question arose: who was his favourite person to work with?
Renowned as one of the greatest comedians of all time, his answers aren’t all that surprising. As is often the case, the actor first named one of his friends, “My favourite person to work with as a director was my friend Bobcat Goldthwait.” The two had worked together on Goldthwait’s 2009 black comedy Greatest Dad in the World, in which Williams plays a writer who exploits his son’s accidental death by publishing writing under his name.
Although the film was initially released on video-on-demand platforms and had only a brief theatrical run, it achieved relative success and would have been a riot to film. Goldthwait and Williams were longtime friends, with Goldthwait even serving as Best Man at Williams’ third wedding. Both were renowned for their wild antics, dark humour, and high-energy performances, making it easy to understand why Williams regarded Goldthwait as one of his favourite directors to work with. Their energies likely complemented each other perfectly—if not a little intensely for the rest of the cast.
Secondly, Williams named Peter Weir his other favourite director. Weir directed Williams in the cult coming-of-age drama Dead Poets Society, in which the comedian took on the more dramatic role of an enigmatic English teacher who inspires his students through poetry. Despite being his first non-comedy role, Williams is often said to have inspired a generation with the final emotional scene. So, it’s unsurprising that the actor felt a certain love for the role and for Weir, who he saw as a collaborator. Weir went on to direct another energetic and renowned comedian, Jim Carrey, in the dramatic The Truman Show, so clearly he had a knack for coaching comedians through more ‘serious’ work.
Beyond that, Williams struggled to name his favourite acting colleague since he’d worked with some of the best names of his generation and beyond. “It’s hard to pick a favourite actor because I’ve been so blessed to have worked with so many great ones,” he told Reddit. From Al Pacino and Robert De Niro to Sally Field and Ethan Hawke, Williams did have an insane list of people he could call his colleagues.
But he did mention the one actor he would love to work with in the future, “I’d love to do a movie with Patton Oswalt. Just because I think he’s such a gifted standup but also a really, really great actor.”
Another friend of his, the two had collaborated on Oswalt’s brother’s YouTube comedy short series, Puddin’. Sadly, the two never starred in a movie together due to Williams’s death. But despite his tragic passing, the actor was incredibly blessed by the people he got to work with, and it’s sad to think about the collaborations that could have happened if he’d lived.
