14 Interesting Facts About Robin Williams
2. Robin & The Genie
Well, The Academy had a tad different opinion back in 1992.
It might seem odd to think of a voice role as one of the most memorable acting performances of someone’s career, but for Robin the role of The Genie really felt like home.
So much, in fact, that he improvised about 70% of the lines because he loved the role so much and it simply felt right.
“Initially they came in and I was just doing the scripted lines and I asked ‘Do you mind if I try something?’ and then 18 hours of recording later, they had the genie. I just started playing, and they said “just go with it, go with it, go with it.” So I improvised the character. I think that in the end, there were something like 40 different voices that I did for that role.”
Unfortunately, it didn’t come without consequences. The Academy had to turn down the film’s submission in the Best Adapted Screenplay category due to his freedom with the part.
