“You don’t think he was acting at all”: Christopher Nolan Called Watching Robin Williams’ Movie Magic Scary
Both director Christopher Nolan and the late actor Robin Williams are very popular, even though the fields of their talents differ. While Christopher Nolan is known for his great storytelling prowess, Robin Williams was known for his comic timing and excellence in being dramatic. The world was given a chance to see these two enigmas work together in Nolan’s 2002 feature film Insomnia.
Williams played the role of a villain named Walter Finch in Christopher Nolan’s psychological thriller. The Fisher King actor had portrayed dramatic characters before but not one of a villain. So, Nolan thought it would be a good idea to cast the actor in a negative role which would make the audiences feel like they had seen Robin Williams in a new avatar.
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Robin Williams Impressed Christopher Nolan
For Robin Williams, comedy was always more than just a career field. He loved to brighten up people’s days and since Insomnia was a serious movie, he would always try to cheer up the cast and crew. Surprisingly, Nolan was immune to his comedic chops. However, the director had a great appreciation for the actor.
In an interview with Cole Haddon of Seattle PI, the Interstellar director said:
“He [Williams] could see I wasn’t receptive to his comedy between takes, but he was always entertaining the crew. Then I’d say ‘action,’ and he’d just go right into what he was doing. I’ve seen his performance many times, and it’s scarily real. There are moments when you don’t think he was acting at all. He’s an incredible talent.”
Being as great of a director as Christopher Nolan is, it is not surprising that he chose to do something that had not been done before. No one could have thought that Robin Williams would be able to pull off the role of a villain that looked ordinary only on the surface, but Nolan and Williams’ joint efforts proved otherwise.
Christopher Nolan’s Reasoning for Casting Robin Williams
The Dark Knight director needed someone to rival Insomnia‘s other star The Godfather fame Al Pacino’s majestic presence. He thought that casting Williams would be fascinating. Pacino was cast way before Williams’ name even came up. The former was cast as a Los Angeles Police Department cop Will Dormer. He had played several similar characters earlier.
Speaking of the One Hour Photo actor’s artistic brilliance at the Hero Complex Film Festival (via ScreenRant), Christopher Nolan said:
“Most performances, at a point, bits start to peel off and away, but with Robin’s, he was very much in that character. Not that he’s a very dark person to work with – he’s very lively and friendly and amusing to work with. He really found something within himself. I think it’s a very underrated bit of work on his part.”
Insomnia turned out to be amazing as both Pacino and Williams’ performances were praised and the film grossed a total of $114 million against a production budget of $46 million. Nolan once said that this is his most underrated movie.
Source: Seattle PI, ScreenRant
