Ethan Hawke recently appeared in a career retrospective video interview where he talked about his most prominent films over the years. While looking back at his most iconic movies, the veteran actor shared a personal story from his time filming the movie Dead Poets Society. He discussed how his late co-star Robin Williams‘ improvisation on set made him learn something new about acting.
Ethan Hawke says Robin Williams didn’t follow script on Dead Poets Society
Ethan Hawke recently appeared in a Vanity Fair interview where he touched upon the most notable films from his career. Dead Poets Society was one of the films from his filmography that he discussed.
While discussing Dead Poets Society, Ethan Hawke shared how he saw director Peter Weir direct Robin Williams on set. He recalled that Weir’s job wasn’t easy, as the late actor was a “comic genius.” “But dramatic acting was still new to Robin at that time,” he further stated. “And watching that relationship like, in the room — I was four feet away while they’re talking about performance — and that was something you don’t unsee.”
Hawke said that the Good Will Hunting star didn’t follow the script and improvised, which surprised him. He added that Williams didn’t ask Weir’s permission to improvise. “And that was a new door that was opened to my brain, that you could play like that,” he further shared. “And Peter liked it, as long as we still achieved the same goals that the script had.”
The Gattaca actor said that although Williams and Weir had different approaches to their work, there was mutual respect. “They worked with each other,” he explained. “That’s exciting — that’s when you get at the stuff of what great collaboration can do.”
Hawke emphasized that creatives did not need to be like each other. He also said that they didn’t have to hate each other for being different. The Boyhood actor stressed the importance of the power of “collective imagination,” adding how movies became “bigger than one person’s point of view.” “It’s containing multiple perspectives,” he further explained.
Dead Poets Society is recognized as one of Robin Williams’ most iconic films. Williams earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his performance as John Keating. However, the film also garnered Hawke — who played Todd Anderson — widespread recognition.
Originally reported by Abdul Azim Naushad on ComingSoon.
