FILM · 1993 · USA
Mrs. Doubtfire
34 archived facts 5 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (34)
- #001
According to a biography, Robin Williams decided to test the believability of the Mrs. Doubtfire character during filming by going to an adult bookstore as Mrs. Doubtfire and completing a purchase. He was able to do so without being recognized.
- #002
Chris Columbus was amazed at how far Robin Williams took his performance. First, Williams played each scene according to the script two or three times, and was then allowed to improvise, or, in Williams's term, to "play." Columbus let Williams improvise a great deal because the film's funniest material came from it; in fact, Columbus sometimes described him as magical.
- #003
In the scene where Mrs. Sellner comes to inspect Daniel's apartment and Daniel/Mrs. Doubtfire serves her tea, the ice on her face melts. This was not intentional. The heat from the set lights melted the cream on her face, and Robin Williams improvised much of that scene.
- #004
While shooting Robin Williams's scenes, Chris Columbus used two or three cameras at once, since he was never sure what the actor, famous for his improvisation, would come up with. Columbus approached filming these scenes as if he were shooting a documentary.
- #005
Robin Williams gave interviews as Mrs. Doubtfire to promote the film, and sometimes played the interviewer as well.
- #006
According to director Chris Columbus, Robin Williams improvised so much that PG, PG-13 and R edits of the film were made (though it was always planned to be released as PG-13).
- #007
The producers fired the original screenwriter over the "unhappy" ending in which the parents do not get back together. After several rewrites with a different "happy" ending, they realized the original ending was actually better, because they did not want to create the illusion that divorced parents will eventually reunite. They rehired the original writer and returned to the original ending.
- #008
There were many instances of Robin Williams trying to break Pierce Brosnan's concentration. In the scene where Brosnan's character (Stu) tries to choke on the shrimp, Williams kept making obscene comments to make his task even harder.
- #009
The prosthetic mask Robin Williams used in the film was actually a decorative prop. The real makeup consisted of eight separate pieces.
- #010
Some scenes were shot 15 to 22 times because Robin Williams was not satisfied until he had gotten the scene out of his system.
- #011
Although Robin Williams and Sally Field got along well during the making of the film, Field said in an interview that she would be frustrated because Williams tried so hard to make her break character during scenes, but that Field stayed professional and never did. She described Williams as a "wonderful person" but found working with him exhausting because he had so much energy and constantly wanted different takes to try different improvisations for the film. Still, Field continued to speak of Williams with praise, saw that he made the film fun, and in 2014 was one of the many celebrities who mourned Williams's death online.
- #012
In the restaurant scene, when Mrs. Doubtfire's teeth fall into the wine glass, the actors did not know Robin Williams was going to do it, and their reactions in the film were genuine, reflecting the crew's shock.
- #013
Harvey Fierstein had seen Robin Williams impersonate him on Comic Relief and was impressed by it. Through friends, he heard that Williams would be playing a character with a gay brother, and he approached him to play the role.
- #014
The address Miranda gives while talking to Mrs. Doubtfire on the phone is the real physical address of the Hillard house used for the film's shooting: 2640 Steiner St.
- #015
The "Mrs. Doubtfire" character was first performed by Robin Williams at an Andy Kaufman show at Carnegie Hall. Williams acted like Kaufman's grandmother.
- #016
It was the second highest-grossing film of 1993, right after Jurassic Park (1993).
- #017
Nathan Lane was considered for the role of Frank, but Harvey Fierstein lobbied intensely to take the role from Robin Williams and managed to secure it. Williams promised Lane they would work together on a future film, and they later worked together on The Birdcage (1996).
- #018
After Daniel loses his mask, an avocado was going to be used instead of the cloth, but it made Robin Williams look like a monster.
- #019
Sally Field had a cappuccino mustache made on set, and they decided to put it in the film.
- #020
The actor playing the bartender in the pool scene (who asks Mrs. Doubtfire if everything is all right) is listed in the credits as Dr. Toad, but his real name is Robert Todd Williams, Robin Williams's older half-brother on his father's side. Because Robin was the son of his father's second marriage, he was unaware of Robert's existence for a long time. Robert was a bartender in real life, and the nickname 'Dr. Toad' was derived from his middle name. Robin cast his half-brother in the film so he could enjoy the experience, and it remains Robert's only acting credit.
- #021
Creating the Mrs. Doubtfire makeup took about four and a half hours each day.
- #022
Talk of a sequel began in 2003, when Bonnie Hunt wrote a script. Robin Williams was to return in the guise of the old nanny, as in the first film. Because of problems with the script, rewriting began in early 2006, reportedly because Williams was unhappy with it. The film was expected to be released in late 2007, but after the script problems the sequel was declared "scrapped" in mid-2006. The sequel's story was said to have originally involved Williams approaching his daughter's university as Mrs. Doubtfire to keep an eye on her. Serious discussions about the sequel reignited in April 2014, when it was announced that Williams and Chris Columbus would work with Fox 2000 Pictures on the sequel. Williams's sudden death only four months later sealed the project's fate. No one replaced him.
- #023
Stu was initially written as an arrogant villain, but Chris Columbus felt this hurt the relationship with Mrs. Doubtfire, so Stu was rewritten to be the perfect potential father figure for the children.
- #024
Mrs. Doubtfire's accent was inspired by the Scottish director Bill Forsyth, with whom Robin Williams worked on Being Human (1994). Williams also drew inspiration for the voice from Margaret Thatcher and Julia Child.
- #025
The princess line was improvised by Mara Wilson.
- #026
When the scene in which Mrs. Doubtfire accidentally sets the kitchen on fire was shot, the boiling water actually contained a metal spoon that had become very hot. When Robin Williams picked up the spoon, he burned his hand and swore, to the point that Chris Columbus thought Williams was acting, then realized he was not acting and was genuinely in pain, and felt terrible about it. The scene was reshot without the metal spoon, and instead Mrs. Doubtfire picked up a pot containing potatoes and dropped it on the kitchen floor.
- #027
Because of the sheer amount of material Robin Williams improvised, there were several versions of the film in post-production, so editing the film in a way similar to the script was difficult. Chris Columbus likened it to editing a documentary; the other versions were unusable in tone because they were all over the place. There were also versions Columbus described as "hilariously funny," but he could not release them because many of the jokes Williams came up with would have earned the film an R rating. Columbus, however, denied rumors that Williams improvised material bawdy enough to make an NC-17 version.
- #028
Chuck Jones, the iconic animator of Warner Brothers' Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons, supervised the opening animation. The full five minutes of Pudgy Parakeet and Grunge the Cat were released as a DVD feature.
- #029
Robin Williams based much of his characterization of Mrs. Doubtfire on his real childhood nanny. When the British tabloid press learned this, they set out to find his former nanny. They found the real nanny, "Lolly," in a nursing home in Michigan, and reporters and photographers flocked to the small town to interview her. Lolly resisted the attention and downplayed her impressive role. (The reporter learned that Lolly had also been a nanny to other Hollywood celebrities, including Mr. and Mrs. Lyle Wagoner.) As a result, the local newspaper published Lolly's story under the headline "The Real Mrs. Doubtfire."
- #030
The scene in which Daniel drops the prosthetic mask and it flies out into the street required more than fifty takes.
- #031
Chris Columbus is a big James Bond fan, and he was very upset that Pierce Brosnan was not cast when he was offered the role during the making of Remington Steele (1982), but they did not release him from his contract. During the making of this film, Columbus told Brosnan he would make a great James Bond, but Brosnan thought the ship had sailed. In 1995, MGM called Columbus to say they were looking for a new James Bond and that Brosnan was one of the options, so Columbus recommended him; his small contribution to the James Bond saga.
- #032
Sally Field initially turned down the role of Miranda because she was having many marital problems in real life with her second husband, and they divorced in 1994, only a few months after the film was released in November 1993. Because of her own real-life struggles, she felt it would be too difficult to play Miranda at home. After many actresses took over the role, Robin Williams managed to convince Field that she was the right choice for it, because her personal struggles would deliver a convincing performance, and although the film has some sad scenes it is mostly a comedy, and he felt that making a comedy would be good for her and promised it would create a fun and light atmosphere on set. Field eventually accepted, and it remains one of the biggest box-office earners to date.
- #033
According to Chris Columbus, the film was originally to be set in Chicago. However, after touring San Francisco, they chose to shoot the film there. Columbus had lived in New York for years and needed a change of setting to support his family. During filming, he and his family were so taken with the city that they settled in San Francisco after the film was completed.
- #034
Robin Williams said he made the film to make up for not spending enough time with his children.
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