Co-star recalls Robin Williams going off-script in iconic ‘Dead Poets Society’ scenes

Robin Williams was never the one to stick with the script and his Dead Poets Society co-star just confirmed it.

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, Ethan Hawke looked back on working with the late comedy legend in the 1989 classic, revealing that Williams often went off-script while filming some of the movie’s most memorable scenes.

“Robin is a comic genius,” Hawke recalled. “But dramatic acting was still new to him at the time. He didn’t do the script - if he had an idea, he just did it. He didn’t ask permission. That opened a new door in my brain, that you could play like that.”

Hawke, who was just a teenager then, said director Peter Weir accepted Williams’ spontaneous style, and together, they struck a creative balance.

“They worked with each other,” Hawke shared. “That’s when you get the magic of great collaboration - when the movie becomes bigger than one person’s point of view.”

Williams, who tragically passed away in 2014, left a lasting mark on his co-stars with his unforgettable performance as English teacher John Keating in the movie.