I met Robin Williams
In the fall of 2013, I got hired as a
background actor on a one day shoot of “The Crazy Ones” This was the new TV sitcom that Robin
Williams starred in. The scene was a
used car lot and it was actually my old car that got hired. I was
driving a green 1996 Toyota Camry with 235,000 miles on the second engine. I loved that car, but the engine finally
blew about two months later and I had to get rid of it.
Call time was 6:00AM in the morning and
it was going to be an “all day shoot.” The
scene was in the Chicago Area and I wore “Bears Colors” with a navy blue
T-Shirt, blue jeans, and a brown sport jacket that I just bought at Good
Will. I was lucky that wardrobe liked
my clothing and I did not have to change.
We moved our cars into the parking lot
and my car got placed near the front of the lot near the building. The day was hot and sunny. The work was slow and all the extras were
tired. I was exhausted and spent some
time napping in a chair between takes when I could. For a little while, I slept in the seat of
my car, when they were shooting at the other end of the lot.
Of course, we were all excited to work
with Robin Williams, but professional protocol requires us to pretend that he
is just another actor and no one particularly special. Being a lead actor is very challenging and
the extra attention from cast and crew members can be distracting and
upsetting. This is why actors have their
own trailers. So they can relax and
concentrate on the performance. A lot
of money is being spent on set and the Producers cannot afford to have a lead
performance that is not the very best.
Some actors have gotten cast members fired from the set just for looking
at them the wrong way. We are all told
not to stare at the actors.
Well, I was impressed with Robin
Williams. He carried himself like the
consummate professional on set. He
never complained about the heat and sun and never looked like he was ever hot,
or uncomfortable. He was cool, calm and
in control. He did not goof around, but
just stood there professionally waiting for the shot to start.
On most professional productions, there
are special cast members called “Stand Ins”
These actors Stand In for the main actors while the crew members are
setting up and adjusting the equipment for the next shot. It can take a long time to fix technical
problems, so Stand Ins are used to frame the shot. This gives the actors time to rest and prepare
their performance. However, Robin
Williams didn’t even leave the set. He
just stood there waiting for the shot to be ready while the Stand In
worked. And he looked relaxed and even
comfortable the whole day. This was an
amazing demonstration of strength and composure to me.
I was hot, sweaty, tired, and
weary. I had been awake since 4 AM and
the heat was wearing me out. I was younger than Robin Williams was and did not have any difficult work to do. And yet, Robin maintained perfect composure
and never complained. I remarked to my
coworkers that Robin Williams was the consummate professional.
The last scene we shot was a time lapse
gag shot. The shot was to simulate all
the cars being sold in a day. A camera
was placed at the top of a crane at one end of the parking lot and we were
instructed to, “stand near your cars and mill about like you are
shopping.”
Once the shot starts, members of the
sales team would select us one-by-one.
They would escort us to our cars and pretend like they were selling the
car to us. Then we would shake their
hand, get in the car, and drive it off the lot. This sounded like fun.
We all got in our first positions. The director called “tape running… background… action.” And then Robin Williams walked on set. He came right over to me first, as the
first buyer of the first car being sold. I couldn't believe it, but we were "rolling." I pointed out my
car. As we walked to the car, I
explained that it had 235,000 miles and is on the second engine. Robin said, “Woah” like he was
impressed. Because it was a time lapse
shot, there was no sound being recorded, we could say whatever we wanted, so we
adlibbed about buying the car. Then we
walked around to the driver’s door. I
stopped, looked at him, enthusiastically shook his hand, and said, “Thank you.” Then, I got into my car, and drove away. As I left the set, I felt like the luckiest
man on Earth. For the rest of the day, I
felt like I was fortunate member of the chosen elect, just because I met Robin
Williams and shook his hand. That made
my day.
And that was it. After that shot, we broke for lunch, and
there weren’t any more shots in the parking lot. For one shot, I walked back and forth
outside a showroom window while they shot a scene inside. The 2nd AD kept asking me to take
off my hat, and I didn’t really want to because I was afraid of getting sun
burned, but I took it off anyway. Ed
Asner and a few other celebrity actors were there that day, but I’ll always
remember it as the day I got to meet Robin Williams.
Sadly, it is a day that today is more
special than it ever was before …
Copyright© 2014 William Schaeffer
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