Carrie Fisher Talks To THR About Robin Williams
Carrie Fisher, who has been open about her struggles with mental health, shared memories of Robin Williams with The Hollywood Reporter.
Even off-set, Fisher said she was blown away by his charisma and the way in which he absorbed his surroundings. “Robin had rampant empathy,” explained Fisher, who is currently on location reprising her role as Leia in J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII. “Everything would end up on his grid. He’d walk in a room, and all the energy there would impact him. He was the opposite of selfish. Anything would hurt him. Or … impact him somehow.”
Perhaps it was that unrelenting stream of emotion that led Williams down a difficult path with substance abuse, she said. The comedian had been open in various interviews over the years about his struggles with alcohol and cocaine, as well as stints in rehab. “It’s fun to be brilliant, but who are your peers? Who was his peer?” asked Fisher. “It’s incredibly lonely to be that. And he didn’t have a choice. And that’s why you take drugs, so you can slow up and smell the roses just to know that they are there, and it’s not all you. Drugs for a lot of people kept them alive. Without them they would’ve committed suicide. Not that I think that in any way drugs are positive. But I can certainly understand what drove his need for them, his appetite for them.”
Fisher worked with Williams while writing dialogue for Tinkerbell in Hook.
Also, Jimmy McInerney of RebelForce Radio wrote a great piece for Shotglass Digital about Robin Williams’ Star Wars connection. In an interview with Oprah back in 2012, George Lucas and Mellody Hobson revealed how Robin Williams played a part in Hobson’s realization that there was more than friendship to their relationship.
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline Phone Number: 1-800-273-8255
Suicide Help Guide
Tricia Barr's novel, Wynde, won the 2014 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal for Best Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror Ebook. She was also part of Silence in the Library's successful all-female creator science fiction and fantasy anthology Athena's Daughters, which is available now. For excerpts and tales of her adventures in creating a fictional universe, hop over to TriciaBarr.com.
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