In tribute to their late co-star, Robin Williams, and the 25th anniversary of Mrs. Doubtfire, the three child stars have reunited together with their movie step-dad.
Now 31-year-old Mara Wilson, 38-year-old Matthew Lawrence, and 39-year-old Lisa Jakub all remember the 1993 movie as if they were shooting it yesterday.
To mark its 25th anniversary, the trio sat down with 65-year-old Pierce Brosnan who portrayed their stepfather in the movie. During their reunion, they held a discussion about the movie as well as their late co-star, Robin Williams, who passed away in 2014.
“It’s a bit of a time warp. There is a sense that no time has passed, actually, which is sort of wild,” Lisa said, saying that the reunion after such a long time felt “surreal.”
Brosnan, who admitted to watching the movie on his way to the reunion, said he was especially struck by the scene in which his character goes out for a dinner together with the kids and Mrs. Doubtfire.
Recalling the set, Brosnan said: “It came time to do Robin’s close-up, and my close-up… and he just unleashed, the bluest, the craziest innuendos about Sally’s character… And it was on my close-ups that he went to town.”
Additionally, they revealed how this scene took them several weeks to film. They also admitted that they were laughing a lot while on the set, causing each scene to have many takes.
“It would be, like, OK, take 25. And Robin would be different every time,” Mara said. “Every take was something new and different and obviously amazing,” Matthew added.
Pierce, who remained humble throughout the interview, also recalled the moment he landed the job and realized that he got the chance to work with Robin Williams.
“I remember the first time I saw Robin Williams. I remember loving the script and I was so thrilled to get the job, as an actor one always is, but particularity this job because it was Robin Williams and I was such a huge fan of this man’s work,” he said.
Speaking of late Robin, Lisa explained how the actor influenced her:
“One of the most powerful things for me about working with him is that he was very open and honest with me, talking about his issues with addiction and depression, and that was so powerful to me at 14.”
“Robin was like a guiding force. He would just all of a sudden, out of the blue, look over and be like, ‘Don’t do drugs. Totally messed up my brain. I’m serious, do not do them.’ That stuck with me,” Matthew added.
“He was so great with kids. He was very kind, very giving, very funny,” Mara expressed.
Recently, Lisa also spoke about her experience working with Robin in an interview with Today. At that time, she said:
“Something that Robin taught me that was really, really important is that he was very open with me about his issues with addiction and depression — and I really appreciated that.
“I think he thought that was, you know, a prime time to really be open with me and honest. And I have dealt with depression, and I have anxiety, and the fact that he was that open, that honest, that willing to talk to me about it was something that was really special.”