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'He Was Really Struggling': Sarah Michelle Gellar Shares How She Felt 'Protective' Of Robin Williams Before His Death
Sarah Michelle Gellar, who worked with Robin Williams on The Crazy Ones, shares her memories of their bond and how his untimely death impacted her perspective on life.
Trigger Warning: This article contains references to suicide
Sarah Michelle Gellar is looking back on the bond she shared with friend and costar Robin Williams, and how his untimely death helped shift her perspective about life. She worked with the late comedian who tragically took his own life aged 63 in August 2014, on the sitcom The Crazy Ones months before his death, and she tried to look out for him as he battled with depression.
Sarah Michelle Gellar felt protective of Robin Williams before his death
Sarah Michele Gellar joined Shannen Doherty on her Let's Be Clear podcast on Monday 5 February, where she discussed feeling very protective of Robin Williams while they starred on the CBS sitcom The Crazy Ones together from September 2013 until April 2014.
The project, which saw Gellar and Williams portray a father-daughter duo, ultimately marked Williams' final television role. He died by suicide on Aug. 11, 2014, at age 63, and it was later discovered that he had Lewy body dementia, the second-most common type of progressive dementia after Alzheimer's disease.
On the podcast, Gellar explained that she signed on to do the series even though her son Rocky James was just three months old because of the chance to work with Williams. "I went back to work right away because I was desperate to work with Robin," she explained. "When that opportunity came my way, there was no way to pass it up."
Gellar remarked that she was one of the few people who knew that he was struggling and wasn't well. "I soaked up every moment I could with him,” she continued of Williams, who struggled with his mental health throughout his prolific career. "I felt that the work was the easy part for me. It was just making sure that, you know, he was okay and that they weren't working him too hard.”
The Buffy the Vampire Slayer star stated that some other people on the show also knew about Williams and were all very protective of him. She added that because working on a TV show is a hard job, she and those other people wanted to help him without spilling secrets.
Gellar recalled to Doherty how after Williams died everything just stopped. She said his death inspired her to take some time away from Hollywood and spend time with her children. "I just said, 'What am I doing? Like, my kids are really young. I've lived my whole life, I don't want to miss this... I don't want to be gone when Rocky takes this first step,'" Gellar recalled thinking. "That's what made me take all those years off was Robin. Not just him, but just you know, those moments in your life stop you in your tracks."
Sarah Michelle Gellar needed a break after Robin Williams' death
Prior to Sarah Michelle Gellar’s interview with Shannen Doherty, she shared exclusively with PEOPLE in 2022 that after Robin Williams’ death, she needed a break to be the parent that she wanted to be. "I've been working my entire life," she said. "When I had kids — and it was right after Robin passed away — there was just so much going on in my life and I just said, 'I need to take a break.'"
Although Gellar and Williams' time on screen together was short-lived, she shared an incredibly special bond with her TV dad which inspired her to take some time to be home with her children. "I need to be here for these early formative years of my kids' life," shared the mom of two. "I needed that break to be the parent that I wanted to be."
But as her kids started to grow older, Gellar realized something was lacking from her everyday routine and missed working. "I started to really miss it," Gellar recalled. "But it's also finding the right opportunity, something that speaks to you that also speaks to your audience."
The right opportunity finally came knocking with the new Paramount+ drama series, Wolf Pack, where Gellar will star as arson investigator Kristin Ramsey. She is also set to executive produce the series.
Disclaimer: If you know someone who is having suicidal thoughts, anxiety, going through depression, or is suffering from a serious mental illness, reach out to a nearby doctor, mental health expert, or an NGO for immediate help. There are several helplines available for the same.
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