Kirsten Dunst Recalls Working With Robin Williams on JUMANJI Calling Him "A Very Respectful, Beautiful Human"

It has been eleven years since we lost beloved actor and comedian Robin Williams to suicide after his battle with Lewy body dementia. His legacy and incredible body of work live on, entertaining generations of fans new and old. One young co-star of Williams’s recently had fond things to say about her time with the actor on set of the 1995 film Jumanji.

Kirsten Dunst, who has gone on to be nominated for an Oscar, an Emmy, and four Golden Globes, played a young girl in the movie who gets sucked into the Jumanji board game, and meets up with Williams’ character, a grown Alan Parrish, who has ben stuck in the game since he was a kid.

Dunst appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show (via EW) this week, where she revealed that Williams left a deep impression on her and taught her then-13-year-old self the proper way to treat a crew. 

“It makes me so sad thinking about him,” Dunst confessed about Williams, to which Barrymore replied, “I feel like he never turned off, though, in a beautiful way.”

Dunst acknowledged that he was someone she looked up to as a young teen, saying, “He was just like… He left such an impression on me with his grace and the way he treated everyone,” she told Barrymore and her Roofman costar Channing Tatum. “And then, on top of it, he gave me my first computer? And he just was so generous with his spirt and everything.”

And she learned a lot from him in return. “Again, what a lesson for me to learn at such a young age how to treat a crew,” she pointed out. “I mean, just a very respectful, beautiful human.”

While they never officially worked together, Barrymore has spoken on her talk show about her experience meeting Williams when she was hosting Saturday Night Live at just 7 years old. 

"I got the privilege of meeting him for the first time when I was 7 in 1982,” she explained to Williams’ daughter Zelda in 2024. “[E.T. director] Steven Spielberg brought him to Saturday Night Live that I was hosting... Still the youngest host!”

However, Barrymore admitted that it wasn’t until she met Williams on set that the nerves truly kicked in. "I wasn’t nervous until your dad came, and then I got nervous,” she said. “He’s so wonderful and he has put so much beauty into this world. And he means so much to people.”

Robin Williams remains one of the funniest people ever, and his movies still entertain as much as they ever did. His absence is truly felt and he will forever be missed.

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