By
John Harvey
WILLIAMSBURG
– Russell Hornsby and his brother, Keith, have had the good fortune to meet a
lot of celebrities over the years.
The
twin brothers admit that one of the more memorable encounters was meeting Robin
Williams on the set of the movie, “World’s Greatest Dad” in the summer of 2008.
“I've met a lot of famous people,
but not too many film stars and that was extra special, having seen him in so
many other movies and interacting with so many other big names,” Russell said.
In
the film, Williams’ character, “Lance Clayton”, needed to be a fan of a musician,
and the Oscar-winner chose Bruce Hornsby. Director Bobcat Goldthwait talked
with the Grammy-award winning musician about appearing in the movie. The offer
coincided with a family vacation to the West Coast, and the director invited
the entire family a spot in the film.
“My
dad and (Robin) instantly seemed to click, with each of them having pretty
jovial personalities,” Russell said. “Robin was pretty much as you’d expect in
person, not too serious, seemed to be almost constantly cracking jokes and
performing shtick”
“I remember he was an incredibly wired guy,” Keith added. “I
could never tell if he was serious or not. He would always call me and Russell,
‘Hornsby twins’ repeatedly when he saw us. He was very nice to us and always
made our interactions interesting.”
Off the set, Russell learned that he
and Robin shared a common bond. “I found out that he used to run cross country
and track in high school, so I was able to talk to him about running,” said
Russell, a track athlete at the University of Oregon. “At the time, our
personal bests were pretty similar. (Robin) said he enjoyed cross country more
than track because it was less repetitive.”
Both brothers were impressed with
Williams’ focus once the camera was rolling. “Once filming commenced, his
transformation into character was really impressive, as you'd expect from such
a top tier actor,” Russell said.
“He would be joking around right
before the take, and then suddenly turn a switch on and he'd be serious when it
mattered,” Keith added. “He was such a professional. He was such a veteran and
so comfortable when filming.”
Russell said his favorite Robin
Williams movie was “Flubber”. “It was such a unique movie, with such a funny
and interesting concept.”
Keith’s favorite film was “What
Dreams May Come”, a 1998 drama that tells the story of a man who dies in a car
wreck and his search for his wife in the afterlife. “I watched it in a class at
Oak Hill and it was entertaining.”
On Monday, Williams was found dead
at his home in California at the age of 63. Marin County Sherriff’s Coroner’s
Office “suspects the death to be a suicide due to asphyxia.”
“The news was obviously sad,”
Russell said. “It’s always a shame when we lose such a unique and talented
individual who managed to bring such joy and comedy to so many people’s lives.”
Keith agreed. “It made me think
about all the goofy interactions I had with him,” he said. “It made me smile
because they’re fond memories. It also made me sad because he was such an
incredible talent and it’s too bad who won’t be able to share his work with the
public anymore.”
Contact me at HarveySports757@yahoo.com or
@HarveySports757 via Twitter.
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