Ethan Hawke Reflects On Robin Williams' Struggles During Dead Poets Society

Actor Ethan Hawke just opened up about working with iconic comedian Robin Williams on the set of Dead Poets Society. The two actors starred together in the 1989 film, with Williams playing English teacher John Keating at a boarding school and Hawke as one of his students.

It’s been 11 years since Williams died by suicide, and Hawke told CBS Sunday Morning that the beloved comedian struggled back in the late 1980s when Dead Poets Society was in production.

During one particular moment on set, Williams was “making up lines, and everybody’s laughing,” but when Hawke went to grab some water and food, he saw the actor “hiding in a little corner, just hiding in the dark, by himself.”

“I remember, once, he was making up lines, and everybody’s laughing and everybody’s praising him, and I went to get a glass of water, get a bagel or something, and I saw him hiding in a little corner, just hiding in the dark, by himself. And I [go], ‘Oh, OK.’ It makes a lot more sense to me now, actually. It was a lot; it was taxing. There’s a lot of stories about clowns and the happiness that they give and at what cost.”

After Williams’ death, Hawke realized the inner demons that the Oscar winner was battling back when they worked together. The actor mentioned stories about clowns and “the happiness that they give and at what cost.”

When it came to Williams specifically, the comedian had a complex emotional life and was very sensitive; he had to deal with his own fame and charisma, which “came at a certain cost.” Several members of Hawke’s family have had depression, so he’s aware of the toll it can take on a human being.

“It does not fundamentally change the way I watch the movie because, even at 18, I was aware of the complexity of his emotional life. I’ve had a lot of depression in my family, and it was obvious to me that all that power and that charisma came at a certain cost. [He was] a deeply, deeply sensitive person, who was highly attuned to the energy of a room.”

Williams’ life may have ended under tragic circumstances, but Hawke doesn’t let it define the comedian’s life. When he watches Dead Poets Society now, he thinks of the “spirit of the man that I knew on those days and how powerful it was and how much he weathered that storm of his own psyche.” Hawke still deeply admires Williams, who was, and remains, a one-of-a-kind talent and person.

“So, I say all that to say, the end of his life does not define his life to me. When I watch the movie, I think of the spirit of the man that I knew on those days and how powerful it was and how much he weathered that storm of his own psyche for us and for other people. I admire him tremendously. There aren’t two of him.”

Dead Poets Society is one of Williams’ most iconic movies, with an 85% Rotten Tomatoes score (and an even higher audience score at 92%). Williams was nominated for Best Actor at the Academy Awards and Golden Globes, and the film won an Oscar for Best Screenplay.

Keating, Williams’ character, is a fan-favorite among moviegoers and teachers for the way he taught his students at Welton Academy and inspired them to “seize the day.” One of the most unforgettable lines from Dead Poets Society came when the students stood at their desks and said, “O Captain! My Captain!” after Keating’s firing

After Dead Poets Society, Williams went on to star in Hook, Aladdin, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, The Birdcage, and several other iconic movies, with the comedian finally winning an Oscar for Good Will Hunting in 1998. He died in 2014 at the age of 63.

Dead Poets Society was one of Hawke’s very first roles in Hollywood. He was a teenager while filming alongside Williams.

Hawke acknowledged that people shouldn’t define someone’s life by how it ended or the struggles they faced but rather by the positive impact they made. The Dead Poets Society star certainly made a huge impact on his fans, on numerous comedians and actors, and on the entertainment industry.

Release Date

June 2, 1989

Runtime

129 minutes

Director

Peter Weir

Writers

Tom Schulman

Producers

Paul Junger Witt, Steven Haft