E.G. Daily Reflects on the 'Very Special Time' She Spent with Robin Williams onHappy Feet Two(Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

E.G. Daily and Robin Williams.Photo:Getty (2)

Getty (2)

E.G. Dailyis looking back on the time she spent withRobin Williamsfondly.

The revered voice actor, 62, worked with Williams onHappy FeetandHappy Feet Two,but it wasn’t really until that production began on that 2011 sequel that she got to know him.

“We didHappy Feetin LA, and then when we didHappy Feet Twoin Australia, we got to spend a lot of time with Robin,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively.

“It was beautiful. We were on this giant sound stage withElijah [Wood]and it was just all the cast and Robin so you’re intimately working together,” she recalls. “We were there for almost a month, I think, and after each [day] we would go to a comedy club or a dinner. So it was a very special time.”

And while the cast was all about getting the work right, the time spent away from the sound stage and with each other is what really brought them closer.

The cast of ‘Happy Feet Two’ in 2011.Kevin Winter/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty

“At one point, Robin chartered like a yacht, a big boat for everybody, and we all went into the ocean and we cruised around together,” Daily says. “So there was a lot of time for work, but also there was time for really connecting.”

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And while Daily has been in the business for decades, working with an actor like Robin Williams was particularly invigorating.

“I mean, just super talented people inspire me. I’m super attracted to talent. And Robin Williams is this genius, creative, brilliant man. It was like getting to watch somebody really in their element,” she says.

In the years since his death, several of his former co-workers and friends have shared their fondest memories of him, and the through line seems to be that theMrs. Doubtfireactor was extremely kind.

Nathan Lane and Robin Williams in 1996’s ‘The Birdcage’.United Artists/Getty

During anappearance onSunday TODAYon NBC,Williams’The Birdcagecostar,Nathan Lane, recalled the time Williams helped him avoid questions regarding his sexuality when the two visitedThe Oprah Winfrey Showwhile promoting the film. At the time, Lane had not yet publicly come out as gay and was “not prepared at all” to share that information.

“I don’t think Oprah was trying to out me, but I said to Robin beforehand: ‘I’m not prepared. I’m so scared of going out there and talking to Oprah. I’m not prepared to discuss that I’m gay on national television, I’m not ready,’ " Lane revealed. “And he said, ‘Oh, it’s all right, don’t worry about it, we don’t have to talk about it, we won’t talk about it.'”

Earlier this year, Lisa Jakub, who played Lydia Hillard inMrs. Doubtfire,also opened up about the time Williams tried to get herreinstated in schoolafter she got expelled.

While shooting the classic film, Jakub had worked it out with her school that she would mail her assignments in as she worked. A few months in, the school decided the system wasn’t working anymore and expelled her.

Robin Williams and Lisa Jakub in 1993’s ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’.United Archives GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

United Archives GmbH / Alamy Stock Photo

“It was just so heartbreaking because, you know, I had this life that was very unusual and that was the one normal thing,” she revealed on a “Mrs. DoubtfireFamily Reunion” episode ofMatthew Lawrence’sBrotherly Love Podcast.

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Williams, seeing how devastated she was, tried to intervene.

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

His sweet gesture didn’t yield any results, but Jakub appreciated it, of course. “This principal got the letter, framed the letter, put it up in the office, and didn’t ask me to come back,” she told her former costars. “Amazing.”

source: people.com