‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ Child Star Reveals the Two Most Important Lessons Robin Williams Taught Him

Comedy and movie legend Robin Williams brought heart and humanity to every one of his beloved characters, but those qualities didn’t just go away when the camera stopped rolling and it was time to take off the dress.

More than 10 years after Williams’ death by suicide at the age of 63, tales of the preternaturally talented performer’s behind-the-scenes acts of magnanimity continue to come out as his co-stars still take his kindness to heart. As a father himself, Williams had a soft spot for the child actors with whom he worked during his storied career in show business, and his on-screen kids remember him with all the warmth and wisdom that their characters associated with a certain vaguely Scottish nanny.

In the classic, Williams-starring 1993 comedy Mrs. Doubtfire, Matthew Lawrence played Chris Hillard, the middle child of Williams’ cross-dressing character Daniel. The movie would prove to be Lawrence’s biggest role until he landed a series regular position on Boy Meets World, but as Lawrence explained during a recent talk with Entertainment Weekly, the greatest boon he ever got from Mrs. Doubtfire was Williams’ invaluable advice. According to Lawrence, Williams taught him two crucial lessons — one about the “type of compassion you need to have for people” and one on how you “don’t judge until you walk in someone else's shoes.”

The same goes for their skirts.

“I didn’t quite realize it at the time, but that moment there on set of Mrs. Doubtfire, that those six to eight months were the biggest learning curve anyone can get when it comes to making movies and being an entertainer,” said Lawrence, who was 13 years old when the film premiered in 1993. “And then on top of that, you get a chance to be around Robin Williams and he takes an investment in you, as he does with people. But in particular, he really took an investment with me.”

Lawrence explained of Williams’ guidance, “He really quantified what it was to be a real artist for me in the sense that he was definitely, and I worked with some great people, and he was definitely the most brilliant artist I’ve ever worked with,” adding, “But on top of that, he had the compassion, he had the humility, and he also had these things that he struggled with.”

Specifically, Lawrence said, Williams wasn’t shy about warning his young co-star about the dangers of drug abuse, an issue with which the comedian had some firsthand experience. “He really explained his life to me and really brought me in and taught me not just about in front of the camera, but a lot about the behind the camera as well, and how he felt that substances really further pushed his brain to not function properly,” Lawrence recalled. “And he really opened up with me, and I’ll never forget it. There were times he would just grab me and he’d be like, ‘Don’t put that stuff in your body. If I could go back and tell myself, this is why I’m telling you, don’t put that stuff in your body.’”

Thankfully, Lawrence took his movie dad’s advice and lived a clean life despite his origins as a child star, and the grown-up Mrs. Doubtfire star credits his late mentor with keeping him on the straight-and-narrow. In a sentiment that Williams’ fans can share with his friends, Lawrence mournfully concluded, “Man, it’s a real shame that he’s not with us. There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t hear his voice.”