The TV Show Robin Williams Crashed Just Because He Loved It That Much
Security on major TV sets is usually airtight — unless, of course, the uninvited guest is Robin Williams. Then the rules kind of go out the window.
Back in the mid-90s, while filming Jumanji in Vancouver, Williams took a detour and decided to crash the set of one of his all-time favorite shows: The X-Files. Not as a guest star. Not for a cameo. Just because he was obsessed with it and wanted to see what was going on.
"I met him once in Vancouver," he later told Cinema Confidential, referring to X-Files star David Duchovny. "He was doing The X-Files and I was doing Jumanji. I wandered down this main street and said, 'Can I meet…?' And they said, 'Yeah'. And they came up, and the crew member said, 'Robin Williams wants to meet you'. And he went, 'Yeah, right. Bullshit.' I went, 'Hi, Mr Duchovny. Hi, Fox! You're really groovy. Where's Mulder?'"
That wasn't their last encounter. A decade later, the two would co-star in Duchovny's ill-fated 2004 directorial debut House of D. The movie bombed, earning just $388,532 worldwide on a $6 million budget and pulling a dismal 10% score on Rotten Tomatoes. But at least it gave Williams the chance to publicly reminisce about one of his more charming career detours.
And yes, he was a real fan.
"Oh, big time," Williams said when asked if he followed The X-Files. "Especially the first couple of years, when it was the creepiest. The horror episodes and a lot of the alien possession."
He didn't just show up once. According to Williams, their paths crossed multiple times afterward — mostly at fundraisers — but nothing beat that first meeting, which happened simply because he was in town and couldn't resist visiting the show he loved.
For most people, visiting a TV set means a studio tour and a gift shop. For Robin Williams, it meant walking onto The X-Files and confusing David Duchovny in person. One of the perks of being the most beloved man in Hollywood.