The role Robin Williams called his best voice work: “The favourite character I’ve ever done”
Few actors have perfected both comedic and dramatic acting, with the likes of Diane Keaton, Adam Sandler, and Olivia Colman joining the rare circle of performers who have mastered both. However, Robin Williams remains the ultimate reigning king of this skill, able to both rip your heart out and leave you crying with laughter.
Whether it be his infectious joy in The Fisher King or sense of bittersweet melancholia in Good Will Hunting, the actor continues to be considered one of the true greats due to his commitment to entertainment, with a love for filmmaking and putting a smile on people’s faces that transcended critical validation or any amount of money. He was purely motivated by honest storytelling in whatever format that manifested, expressing his unique humour through a variety of genres.
However, in all his years on screen, Williams also became known for his voice acting and talent for adapting to different accents/dialects, something that became a trademark of his through characters such as the genie in Aladdin and Mrs Doubtfire. But while many of these characters reached global audiences, there was one lesser-known character that he considers his greatest vocal accomplishment.
Moscow on the Hudson, directed by Paul Mazursky in 1984, follows a Russian clown who immigrates to New York, looking for his own version of the American dream while pursuing a career as a musician. It feels like a curveball from Mazursky, who is known for An Unmarried Woman and Bob & Carole & Ted & Alice, known for introspective and sweeping stories that are usually grounded in a more convincing reality. However, his collaboration with Williams demonstrates a similar versatility for comedy, reaching new heights in his bizarre tale about reinvention and second chances.
Due to the fact that Williams is playing a Russian circus performer, the actor had to create a convincing Russian accent, something that he unsurprisingly adapts very well to. When describing the film, Williams shared his sheer enthusiasm over his accent work, saying, “For me, the favourite character I’ve ever done with an accent was in Moscow On The Hudson. I learned to speak Russian for the movie, I studied Russian and the other thing you come around from learning to speak Russian is learning English from a Russian’s point of view, difficult things… weird toilet paper world now. You learn to speak this language coming at it from my perspective”.
Williams had a brain that operated within a whole other speed limit, which perfectly translates to such a high-energy character. The actor explained the real-life inspiration for the story, saying, “It was based on a real Russian jazz musician, so I got to work with him too, so for me, it was one of the more interesting experiences. Getting into another language set, exploring America from an immigrant’s point of view, it was really fun, but also hard work, but I loved doing it.”
Despite being one of his lesser-known performances, it is another beautiful showcase of his unbounded creative energy and innovation, adding to his eclectic and heart-warming body of work.
