Robin Williams was jealous of Jim Carrey after playing the role of the Riddler in BATMAN FOREVER

The genius of late comedy robin williams he has a long list of successful films in his career. They were mostly comedies, but he’s had his share of dramas, two of which earned him Academy Award nominations and one which gave him the only Academy Award of his career. But the only genre the actor never broke into was comics. It seems like this would have been the perfect fit for Williams, and he’s nearly made it happen multiple times, but the most lasting torch he’s carried has been for the Batman franchise.

Williams was first cast as the Joker in Tim Burton Batman, but the plans later fell through. Williams explained in an interview posted by take2marktv’s youtube channel:

“It happens. Sometimes they use you as bait. They’ll say, ‘We’re sending it to them,’ and you go for it. And then they give it to someone else.

Williams added that even though he missed his chance with the Joker, there was another Batman villain he had his eye on, saying:

“I don’t know what happened with that. But maybe there will be something else down the line, maybe the Riddler. Maybe?”

Williams’ joke about the Riddler was more than just wishful thinking. The actor was chosen to play the character in the director Joel Schumacher’S Batman forever. In fact, the script was written with Williams in mind. But again, the plans fell through.

The screenwriter of the film, Lee Batchlerhe previously told The Hollywood Reporter:

“Later, when we wanted to be the Riddler, it was going to be Robin Williams. With the Riddler, we wrote it in Robin’s voice. He read our script and loved it, they just didn’t make the deal. So when it came to Jim Carrey, he did our script a lot. He was just a little less Robin Williams.

Jim Carrey continued to play the role, and there were rumors in Hollywood that Williams was very jealous and had an issue with Carrey over the theft. But Carrey has hushed rumors that there was ever going to be a feud between the actors, and even opened up about Williams’ kindness to him,

Carrey would later go on to deny Radar Online’s claim that there was real conflict between himself and Williams, telling Cinemablend:

“Radar Online is completely off base and creating a feud that didn’t exist. Robin may have expressed insecurity about me and my rise to fame, but I’ve never had anything but the utmost respect for him and his genius. He has always been respectful to me personally.

Carrey went on to add, “There’s no feud if one side doesn’t know about it.”

Williams later became interested in joining the director Christopher Nolan’S Batman begins franchise, and talked about wanting to play the Joker, but after that the part was landed on him Heath Ledgerto great acclaim, Williams was ready to accept any part, saying in an interview:

“I’d play the Riddler in the next Batman, even though Heath would be hard to top as a villain, and I’m a little hairy from pantyhose. I’m using this article as an ad. Chris, call me, I’ll do anything. I could be a great character – or a strange little man in the background in Arkham Asylum.

It’s a shame Williams never had a role in the Batman universe. He was a busy actor in the years following Nolan’s first Batman film, so maybe that’s why. But I wish he had gotten to play in that world for a while before he left this one.

Via: CheatSheet