Mrs. Doubtfire star Matthew Lawrence has late Robin Williams to thank for movie role
The actor was 12 when he played Chris Hillard, one of three children in Christopher Columbus' 1993 comedy-drama that sees Daniel Hillard (Robin Williams) disguise himself as an elderly female housekeeper to spend time with his children, Lydia Hillard (Lisa Jakub), Chris and Natalie Hillard (Mara Wilson), following a divorce from his wife, Miranda Hillard (Sally Field).
And Robin, who took his own life in 2014 at the age of 63, loved Matthew's audition for the hit 20th Century Fox flick so much, he encouraged Matthew to push himself to the limit and "really play [Chris] up" to secure the role.
The 45-year-old star explained to Collider.com: "He got me the role in 'Mrs. Doubtfire'. Got me that role. There was another kid who was definitely in the lead.
"Everybody liked, and he, in the audition process, he came up privately and said, 'We gotta push this over the edge for you. We gotta. So when I do something, I'm gonna do something, I can tell you, gotta go along with it. Really play it up. No one's got it yet.'
And sure enough, we nailed that moment, and he got me the role. So, you know, he was that guy, man."
Matthew went on to carve himself a successful career in Hollywood following the release of 'Mrs. Doubtfire', appearing in the coming-of-age sitcom, 'Boy Meets World', and the comedy-romance film, 'The Hot Chick'.
And Robin's advice to Matthew about never judging someone until they have walked in their shoes has stuck with him ever since.
He admitted: "You know, don't judge someone until you've walked in their shoes. You know, it's really true.
"He was one of the most compassionate people, humble people, talented people I've ever met. And you know, he also gave me some, it's really wild to think about it. I was 12 years old, and the way he took me under his wings, and the way he opened up to me, and the way he treated me as a peer, like he didn't talk down to me.
"It's just miraculous."
Throughout Robin's life, he suffered from relationship struggles, financial problems, drug addiction and depression, and the 'Jumanji' star was very open about his "troubles" with Matthew, so he could be "dead-set" on ensuring Matthew "steered clear of it" all.
Matthew added: "He also opened up to me about what it was like for him when he wasn't entertaining people. And what his personal life, you know, the troubles that he was having.
"It wasn't all laughs, and you know, he really guided me. He had a strong belief that there were things that he did in his life. It exacerbated his condition that he had, and he was dead-set on making sure that I steered cleared of it. And he was successful with that."
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