Mrs. Doubtfire star Lisa Jakub talks about Robin Williams’ support for military veterans on set

It was Memorial Day weekend and one thing actress Lisa Jakub wants us to remember is not only her amazingly iconic on-screen father, Robin Williams, but Williams’ support of military veterans as he would make sure to hire some on his film sets. Jakub played the oldest daughter of the Hillard clan in Mrs. Doubtfire, Lydia. The actors who played the kids in the popular Chris Columbus movie would recently reunite in an episode of the Brotherly Love podcast that’s hosted by her on-screen brother, Matthew Lawrence. Jakub posted on Threads, “We had a little reunion…30 years later and my Mrs. Doubtfire family still feels like family. The sisters had so much fun hanging out with the brothers. @marawilson and @matthewlawrence still feel like my siblings- even 30 years after filming Mrs Doubtfire.”

Deadline reports that Jakub would celebrate Memorial Day with an anecdote about Williams on Mrs. Doubtfire. She told Fox News Digital, “So many people have told me that Robin did a lot of work with the veteran population as well, and that he always had production crews hire local veterans to be background actors or things like that on set, which is not something I ever knew about when I worked with him… but I also love that little connection as well.” Jakub, herself, runs a veterans nonprofit organization called Mission Flexible. She would also show her gratitude that she was able to spend time with the comedian, “Robin was everything you would hope Robin would be, and it’s so wonderful to think back on him now… (I am) grateful that I got to be in his presence, that I got to be working with him, that he was so kind to me.”

She added, “(He was) probably one of the first people who ever really spoke to me super honestly about mental health. And he would talk to me about his struggles and the things that he went through. And it was the first time that I felt like, ‘Oh, I’m not a freak. I don’t have to hide this about myself. This is just something that some of us have to deal with’.”

In the Brotherly Love podcast, Jakub would also pay tribute to Williams, saying, “You had to be really present. We’re on set and I’m like, ‘I am so lost but, you know, we’re just going to go with it because he’s Robin and you can trust him.” Lawrence – who played Christopher Hillard – agreed, adding, “That is very true. He was one of the best at going off the book and creating his own stuff. To be in front of the camera with him was quite the experience. If you weren’t present and you weren’t ready for any kind of curveball you were going to get thrown off.”