Robin Williams Was Almost The BFG

Director Steven Spielberg’s interpretation of The BFG, the classic novel by Roald Dahl, is set to come out on July 1. Mark Rylance, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance in Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies, plays the Big Friendly Giant. Back in the 90’s when this adaptation was trying to get off the ground, however, Robin Williams was considered to play the title character.

Entertainment Weekly says that producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall had Williams in mind at the time. Since the technology hadn’t caught up to the story they wanted to tell, though, The BFG had to sit on the shelf.

The BFG Poster

“Robin spent a lot of time with us actually doing cast readings and he was hilarious,” Kennedy said. “He would have been a great BFG.”

Kennedy added that “figuring out technically how we would do it and whether or not we should try to do it with forced perspective” was their biggest challenge in bringing the 24-foot giant to life, as “lots of different kinds of effects and techniques were explored.”

We’re certain that Williams would’ve been wonderful in the role, as he had a gift for playing larger than life characters. Be sure to check out our video tribute to Williams here and the trailer for The BFG here.