Mrs Doubtfire star reveals Robin Williams’ incredible gesture when she was told not to come back to school

It’s been over 30 years since Mrs Doubtfire was released in the UK and yet it still remains a favourite film for many.

The comedy of course saw Robin Williams’ character pretend to be a British nanny so he could spend time with his three kids as they were in their mum’s custody.

Lydia, Chris and Natalie were played by Lisa Jakub, Matthew Lawrence and Mara Wilson who were child actors.

And Jakub explained that she was still attending high school in Canada while Mrs Doubtfire was being filmed.

But she revealed on an episode of the Brotherly Love podcast that Williams ended up making an incredible gesture when she had a problem with school.

Jakub appeared on the podcast with her on-screen brother and sister where they recalled their time working on the iconic film.

She explained that while she was away for filming for four months they were ‘going to set up a system’ before the time of internet where she would send over her ‘school work back and forth to the school’.

The film is over 30 years old. (20th Century Studios)

“We did that for a while,” she said. Jakub went on to say how she and Lawrence had ‘three hours of schoolwork on set every day’.

But then, despite this, she said: “We were a couple of months into filming, and my school in Canada sent a note saying, ‘This isn’t working for us anymore, don’t come back.’ Yeah, 9th grade.

“I was devastated. It was just so heartbreaking, because I had this life that was very unusual and that was the one normal thing.”

However, her on-screen dad saw how ‘difficult’ she found this and took matters into his own hands.

The kids are all grown up. (Instagram/@lisa.jakub)

“The amazing thing was Robin saw that I was upset — he asked me what was going on,” she recalled. “He wrote a letter to my principal saying that he wanted them to rethink this decision and that I was just trying to pursue my education and career at the same time, and could they please support me in this.”

And while she was very grateful for what the actor did for her, it unfortunately still didn’t work.

“The principal got the letter, framed the letter, put it up in the office, and didn’t ask me to come back,” Jakub added. “Amazing.”

Turns out Williams also helped out Lawrence’s education as he revealed the late star wrote him a letter of recommendation to aid with him getting into the University of Southern California.

Topics: Robin Williams, Film, Education, TV and Film, Celebrity

Jess Battison

Jess is an Entertainment Journalist with a love of all things pop culture. Her main interests include keeping up with the Twitter girlies, waiting for a new series of The Traitors and losing her voice at a Beyoncé concert. She graduated with a first in Journalism from City, University of London in 2021 and has previously worked at MyLondon.

@jessbattison_