A Mrs. Doubtfire The star shares how the late Robin Williams went above and beyond for her, both on and off screen.
In a recent episode of Brotherly Love podcastby his side Mrs. Doubtfire co-stars Mara Wilson and Matthew Lawrence’s Lisa Jakub, who played Lydia Hillard in the hit 1993 comedy, recalled Williams speaking to her defense regarding an issue at her school.
Jakub said she was still in high school in Canada for four months, filming Mrs. Doubtfire. “We were going to set up this system, before the Internet, where I would mail my homework to school. We did that for a while,” she explained.
“As Matt remembers well, we had tutoring, three hours of school work on set every day,” the actress continued. “It had been a few months since filming started, and my school in Canada sent a note saying, ‘This isn’t working for us anymore, don’t come back.’ Yeah, 9th grade. I was devastated. It was so heartbreaking, because I had this life that was very unusual and it was the only normal thing.
However, Jakub said once Williams, who died in 2014, saw how much it affected her, he took matters into his own hands.
“It was a really difficult thing,” she recalls. “The surprising thing was that Robin saw that I was upset – he asked me what was going on. He wrote a letter to my principal saying 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 support me in doing so.
Although she greatly appreciated Williams’ efforts, they ultimately failed. “The director received the letter, framed it, posted it in the office and did not ask me to come back,” Jakub added. “Amazing.”
Lawrence added later during the Mrs. Doubtfire meeting on the podcast that Williams also wrote a letter of recommendation to help him get into the University of Southern California.
In the Chris Columbus-directed film, Jakub, Lawrence and Wilson play a trio of siblings. The film follows Williams, who disguises himself as a housekeeper so he can spend time with his children being held by his estranged wife, Miranda Hillard (Sally Field).
Mrs. Doubtfire not only became a box office hit, but also won the Academy Award for Best Makeup at the 1994 Academy Awards.
