To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (yeah, that’s the name of a film) is a 1995 road comedy-drama film that starred Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, and John Leguizamo.
The film also featured a small cameo from iconic actor Robin Williams, in a blink-and-you-miss-it moment. It was all thanks to Steven Spielberg, who made a genius move to make Williams agree to the role. The premise of the movie was about three professional drag queens who win a trip to Hollywood to take part in a bigger Drag Queen of America pageant.
How did Steven Spielberg convince Robin Williams to do a cameo?
Three professional drag queens cash in their plane tickets given by their friend John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt, and use the money to buy a yellow convertible 1967 Cadillac DeVille (the tickets were only for two, and they decided to take their friend for a tour too).
It so happens that Mitch Kohn, a development executive in 1994, passed the script on to Steven Spielberg for his approval (via Advocate). Spielberg simply loved the script, but he wasn’t too sure about the comedic scenes in the script at that time.
Naturally, he sent the script to his good friend Robin Williams for his approval. His verdict? Make the movie. To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar went into production, and the film was eventually released on 8 September 1995.
However, according to Today, Steven Spielberg and Robin Williams were sitting in a plane when Spielberg had Williams read out a segment of the script. The director liked it so much that he was “mesmerized” by Williams’ performance. Eventually, Steven Spielberg convinced the Aladdin star to have a cameo role.
That is how we got Robin Williams starring in the role of John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar, thanks to Steven Spielberg.
When Robin Williams helped out Steven Spielberg..
It was 1993 when the veteran director was busy making Schindler’s List. Starring Liam Neeson in the leading role, the film featured the story of Oscar Schindler, who helped the Jews get out of a Nazi-occupied Poland. However, Spielberg was unsure if he was mature enough to take on this project.
Well, during the tough times, Steven Spielberg would often go into bouts of sadness because the project was starting to take a toll on him. However, it was during these times that his good friend Robin Williams came to help him by cheering him up.
The legendary director revealed in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that Williams would call him up and do comedy for him.
Robin knew how hard it was for me on the movie, and once a week, every Friday, he’d call me on the phone and do comedy for me. Whether it was after 10 minutes or 20 minutes, when he heard me give the biggest laugh, he’d hang up on me.
Well, William’s comedy did help Steven Spielberg keep a check on his thoughts, and the veteran director was able to release one of the most iconic and heart-touching movies that the world had ever seen.
On the other hand, To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar debuted in 1995 and went on to earn a total of $47 million at the global box office (via IMDb). However, fans should note that a film about three drag queens earning almost $50 million is a big deal, considering it was all in 1995.
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar is available to stream on Peacock (USA).
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