‘What About Bob?’ Nearly Starred Robin Williams and Woody Allen

1991’s What About Bob? tells the story of a clingy multiphobe who won’t leave his therapist alone, even when Dr. Leo Marvin goes on vacation with his family. The shrink becomes so crazed, he eventually attempts to murder his patient with explosives. 

And somehow things were even more tense behind the scenes.

Famously, stars Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss didn’t get along while making the film. Not in a “he has a bigger trailer than me” way, but more in a “he just threw a glass ashtray at my face” way. That real-life tension no doubt contributed to the pair’s compelling on-screen dynamic, but things would have been far different had director Frank Oz been working with two other actors, which was very nearly the case. 

Rolling Stone recently published an oral history of What About Bob? that included a number of interesting production details, such as how the movie was inspired by a best-selling novel that was in no way a comedy. The filmmakers also revealed the names of the actors who were originally considered to star in the film. For the part of Bob, Robin Williams was sugested because, as casting director Glenn Daniels put it, “Robin Williams could have worked in anything because he was brilliant.”

Oz, too, would have been happy with Williams. “I think that Bill was the best choice, but I could have worked with Robin Williams,” the filmmaker and Muppet legend stated. “I could imagine a version of the movie with Robin Williams in my brain.” Dreyfuss meanwhile couldn’t help but throw in an insult to Murray, claiming that the part would have been “too easy” for Williams.

For the role of Dr. Leo Marvin, before landing on Dreyfuss, a number of famous names were floated, including Jack Nicholson, Alan Arkin, Michael Caine and, most conspicuously,  Woody Allen. “I thought it would be a bad idea,” screenwriter Tom Schulman said of the Allen idea. “Woody was essentially a very likable guy. And yes, he’s associated with psychiatry because of all his neuroses, but it still felt wrong.” And keep in mind, this movie came out just one year before it really would have felt wrong to cast Allen. 

Charlie Korsmo, who played Dr. Marvin’s son in the movie, similarly doesn’t believe that Allen would have been a good choice. “I think the tone would’ve been totally wrong if they cast Woody Allen. He could do miffs, not volcanic,” the former child star pointed out.

Williams and Allen did end up collaborating on a project, but never sharing the screen together. The Mrs. Doubtfire star had a small role in Allen’s movie Deconstructing Harry, playing an actor who goes out-of-focus.

While casting the famously neurotic Allen as the increasingly frazzled psychiatrist arguably would have ruined the whole point of the movie, the idea of putting Williams in the Murray part is intriguing. 

Korsmo, who also co-starred with Williams in Hook that same year, noted that the two comedians were totally different on set. “They’re exactly the opposite. Robin Williams in real life, at least post-cocaine and everything, was nothing like the manic wild man he played on-screen,” Korsmo recalled. “He was this quiet, reserved, introverted, very gentle guy. And Bill Murray acts like he’s on-screen all the time. I don’t know if he’s putting on a show or not, but if he is, he’s putting it on all the time.”

Which sounds like it could be fun – unless, of course, you’re on the receiving end of an ashtray toss.