Robin Williams protected his child co-stars from having to work overtime on the taxing set of 1995’s Jumanji, according to one of the film’s stars. The fantasy adventure film was an adaptation of author Chris Van Allsburg’s novel of the same name and despite its popularity today, the film wasn’t one of the biggest box-office draws of 1995.
Regardless of Jumanji’s failure to conquer the domestic box office, it still remained a popular title, and the addition of Williams in the lead role was arguably its saving grace. The world suffered a tremendous shock in 2014 when Williams’ suicide at the age of 63 was revealed, as the comedian had spent decades starring in some of Hollywood’s biggest hits. The 90s were a particularly triumphant decade for Williams, with his first (and only) Oscar coming in 1998 after his dramatic turn as psychologist Dr. Sean Maguire in Good Will Hunting. But for some of Williams’ Jumanji co-stars, his kindness and empathy overshadowed the veteran comedian and actor’s renown as a bankable A-list actor. Jumanji contained several key roles for children, many of whom had little experience with a production of Jumanji’s magnitude.
Even today, some twenty-five years after the film was released, at least one of Williams’ co-stars still remembers how the comedian took the side of the kids during production. While speaking with People recently, Bradley Pierce, who played Peter Shepherd in the film, recounted one day in particular on the Jumanji set where the producer’s desire to shoot overtime meant enduring even more time in a water tank. After already spending a grueling eight hours shooting the film’s monsoon scene, Williams made it clear that overtime was not going to be an option and that shooting would resume the following week:
"Robin caught wind of these conversations happening and apparently he pulled the director and producers aside and said, 'No we're not doing any extra time. You're gonna let everyone out of the pool now and we're going to be [sic] come back next week. For all the dollars that would have cost, nobody else could have stood up the way he did. In addition to being warm and generous and kind, he was also very protective of all of us. He told everyone, 'we're done today, time to go home.' "
Hearing these sorts of stories today just further emphasizes what type of person Williams was, and the impact he made on his co-stars. In recent years, the Jumanji franchise has had a facelift of sorts, with a star-studded cast that includes Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, and Kevin Hart taking over from where Williams left off. One of the key concerns prior to the production of 2017’s sequel was whether or not the new film would find a way to properly honor Williams’ role in the franchise. It’s safe to say that much was achieved and it’s stories like the one told by Pierce that serve to highlight why people were so fond of Williams.
Some may not feel overly sympathetic that actors on a major Hollywood production were being asked to work longer than 8 hours, but it’s important to remember that child actors can only legally be asked to work for a certain number of hours on a Hollywood production. Having Williams there to speak up for the Jumanji cast was instrumental in the rules not being bent, and the fact that the public had never heard this story until now shows how humble the star was.
Source: People