Robin Williams was one of the most beloved actors of his or any other generation. The star brought many memorable characters to life on the big screen. Funny and warmhearted, Williams frequently went off-script to make his movies even more entertaining, improvising bits of dialogue that often left his co-stars in stitches, even when the cameras were still rolling. One of Williams’ most memorable films, Mrs. Doubtfire, featured several improvisational moments by Williams — including one particular scene where the star paid homage to another one of his beloved movies, Dead Poets Society.
Robin Williams improvised a charming ‘Dead Poets Society’ callback in ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’
Mrs. Doubtfire was released in 1993 and quickly became a hit. The comedy tells the story of a devoted father who resorts to dressing as an aged nanny in order to get more time with the three children that he shares with his estranged wife. Williams’ skills at physical comedy were on full display in the film, which required him to be in costume as an elderly woman for much of his time onscreen. And it’s obvious that the great comedian had a lot of fun making the movie.
During one scene late in the film, “Mrs. Doubtfire” is at dinner with the family, including his ex-wife’s new boyfriend, when his false teeth fall in his glass of wine. According to BuzzFeed, Williams improvised the dialogue during the scene, remarking “Carpe dentum. Seize the teeth,” while fishing the dentures out of the glass. This bit of dialogue was a direct callback to Dead Poets Society, a 1989 film that featured Williams in a starring role. In that movie, there’s a scene where Williams tells his assembled students, “Carpe diem. Seize the day, boys.”
What else did Robin Williams improvise in ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’?
Williams improvised several times during the making of Mrs. Doubtfire. This includes the iconic moment when his character, Daniel, tries to fool a social worker by bouncing back and forth between his real personality and that of Mrs. Doubtfire, the English nanny. At one point, out of pure desperation, Daniel slams his face into a cake. As his face is covered in cake frosting, Daniel tries to serve the social worker tea, only to have some of the frosting drip into the hot tea cup. Daniel/Mrs. Doubtfire went with it, quipping that the social worker can enjoy some “sugar with her tea,” before handing her the cup.
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Reportedly, Williams completely improvised the moment after the hot lights on set melted the makeshift mask on his face. The famously flexible actor went with it, continuing the scene and handing the other actor the teacup without breaking stride. He created an iconic onscreen moment that sent fans into laughing hysterics.
Robin Williams also improvised in ‘Good Will Hunting’
Williams didn’t just improvise on Mrs. Doubtfire. The actor was known for bringing his own personal touch to every film that he worked on, adding and switching up dialogue in certain scenes. In Good Will Hunting, Williams brought his skill with improv to bear during one scene where his character, Sean, tells Matt Damon’s character all about his late wife. While the story Sean tells starts off touching, it quickly turns to humor when he tells Damon’s character that his wife used to fart in her sleep so loudly that she would wake herself up.
Damon later revealed that Williams made up the monologue as they were filming, causing both Damon and the cameraman who was filming to go into a laughing fit. To this day, both Good Will Hunting and Mrs. Doubtfire stand as prime examples of Williams’ genius at capturing an audience’s attention.
