Robin Williams almost didn’t play Mrs Doubtfire – another actor turned it down
The late Robin Williams almost didn’t play Mrs Doubtfire until another actor turned the role down. The rest is history.
It’s hard to imagine the iconic movie, which is almost 30 years old, with any other Hollywood star now. Robin Williams transformed the role and film of Mrs Doubtfire to another level, bringing in his incredible voice acting talents into the character.
Not only that, he managed to capture the fine balance between comedic scenes with real-life emotional and relatable scenes. In this case, being a broken family trying to move on after parents go through a messy divorce – which many people have gone through throughout the world.
All in all, Robin plays the doting dad whose life revolves around his children in the classic flick.
However, did you know that he almost didn’t play the part as there were talks with another star beforehand?
Today marks what would have been Robin Williams birthday, the star passed away from suicide in 2014.
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Robin Williams’ iconic Mrs Doubtfire role was almost played by someone else
It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing Mrs Doubtfire – bra and all. But that’s exactly what almost took place three decades ago.
Bustle reports Tim Allen was offered two roles in the movie – yes, two. He was invited to play the part of iconic and spicy Mrs Doubtfire or Stu (taken by 007 himself). However, he turned both of them down.
It wouldn’t be the childhood classic we all know and love without Brosnan or Williams.
Screencrush also claims Anne Fine, who wrote the book which inspired the film, believed Warren Beatty would be a great cast.
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Cast didn’t realise it was Robin Williams in costume
The comedian also fooled his co-stars who didn’t recognize it was him disguised as Mrs Doubtfire.
Pierce Brosnan – who played Stu – told the Today Show he first met Williams in his trailer when he was transforming into the nanny. He says he was Mrs Doubtfire from the neck up, but still himself from the neck down.
He joked: “I never felt I worked with Robin Williams. I was always working with Mrs Doubtfire”.
Chris – played by Matthew Lawrence – admitted it took him some time to realise who Williams was.
He said: “[Williams] was sitting on the couch with my two sisters, and I didn’t know that it was Mrs. Doubtfire or Robin. I just thought, well, it could be the social worker or the teacher or something.”
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What is Mrs Doubtfire about?
We follow Daniel Hillard, a talented father who disguises himself as a nanny in order to spend more time with his children following his divorce.
With the help of his brother, he manages to way a prosthetic face and body suit to transform his appearance, and uses his voice to adapt to how he speaks. In doing so he manages to convince his ex-wife Miranda to hire him as the new nanny in their old home together. As such, Daniel gets to see his children every single day.
However, he gets caught up within their lives as Mrs Doubtfire and as himself. And in one pivotal moment, he unfortunately reveals his true self, ruining the entire plan.
