Robin Williams Improvised So Much on ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ That 2 Million Feet of Film Was Shot; Director Still Has 972 Boxes Full of Outtakes and More
variety.comZack Sharf Digital News Director “Mrs. Doubtfire” director Chris Columbus marked the film’s 30th anniversary this month with a new interview courtesy of Business Insider in which he revealed that 2 million feet of film was shot during the making of the 1993 comedy because Robin Williams improvised so much dialogue.
The film is home to one of Williams’ most classic characters. He plays a recently divorced actor who disguises himself as an elderly female housekeeper so that he can continue to see his children. “Early on in the process, he went to me, ‘Hey boss, the way I like to work, if you’re up for it, is I’ll give you three or four scripted takes, and then let’s play,'” Columbus remembered about working with Williams. “By saying that, what he meant was he wanted to improvise.
And that’s exactly how we shot every scene. We would have exactly what was scripted, and then Robin would go off and it was something to behold.” “The poor script supervisor,” Columbus continued. “Remember, this is the early 1990s, she wasn’t typing what he was saying.
She was handwriting it and Robin would change every take. So Robin would go to a place where he couldn’t remember much of what he said.
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