Robin Williams died a decade ago, but Matthew Lawrence wants to use technology to bring him back to the screen.
“AI and all these, kind of, creative voices are becoming more and more a part of our daily routine,” Matthew Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly in an interview on Friday, July 25. “I would love — now, obviously, with the respect and with the OK from his family — but I would love to do something really special with his voice.”
Lawrence noted that Robin’s voice is “iconic” not only to people of his generation, but to everyone, as well. “It would be so cool,” he gushed.
The Boy Meets World alum revealed he got an idea for a potential new project from a commercial Williams once did. “It was kinda like this very contemporary, modern, almost sort of foreshadowing of what’s going on commercial, that he did, where he did this computerized VoiceOver. And it always stuck with me,” Lawrence explained. “And then, during his passing and with the AI coming out, I’m like, ‘Man, he’s gotta be the voice of AI He’s gotta be the voice in something.’ So yeah, I would love to do that.”
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Lawrence famously worked with Williams on the 1993 film Mrs. Doubtfire, in which he played one of Williams and Sally Field‘s three children, along with Lisa Jakub and Mara Wilson. The movie starred Williams as a struggling actor who takes on the persona of Mrs. Doubtfire to spend time with his kids as a nanny amid his divorce.
Williams died of suicide at the age of 63 in August 2014. Lawrence has continued to keep his former costar’s legacy alive over the years by sharing memories from their time working together.
“He really took an investment with me,” Lawrence told Entertainment Weekly back in April, adding that two of the biggest things he learned from Williams were the “type of compassion you need to have for people” and not to “judge until you walk in someone else’s shoes.”
Lawrence noted that Williams served as a mentor to him both on and off screen. “He really explained his life to me and really brought me in and taught me not just about in front of the camera, but a lot about the behind the camera as well, and how he felt that substances really further pushed his brain to not function properly,” he told the outlet. “And he really opened up with me, and I’ll never forget it. There were times he would just grab me and he’d be like, ‘Don’t put that stuff in your body. If I could go back and tell myself, this is why I’m telling you, don’t put that stuff in your body.’”
At the time, Lawrence said that “there’s not a day that goes by” that he doesn’t hear Williams’ voice and hinted at the possibility of the late star’s return using AI. “I even wish, now with artificial intelligence, I kind of want to go to his family and be like, would you guys allow me to use his voice for some sort of creative expression? Because I hear it every day, in my head,” he added.