Fans of the late Robin Willliams have been entranced by a recent viral video showing a heartbreaking moment in the comic’s life. Now the Patch Adams star’s daughter, Zelda Williams, has pleaded with his fans to stop sending her the video depicting him on one of his “saddest days.” Here’s what she had to say about actor Jamie Costas, who played her famous father.
A viral “Test Footage” video has been making the rounds on social media after it was posted by actor Jamie Costas to his YouTube channel. In the video, Costas plays Robin Williams back when the comedian starred on Mork & Mindy. The emotional scene depicts the moment Robin was informed of his friend John Belushi’s death by his co-star Pam Dawber, played by Sarah Murphee.
Apparently a lot of people had the same idea and began sending the video to Robin’s daughter, Zelda Williams. Eventually, it became too much for the 32-year-old actress and she issued a statement on Twitter.
Zelda tweeted, “Guys, I’m only saying this because I don’t think it’ll stop until I acknowledge it … please, stop sending me the ‘test footage’. I’ve seen it.” She quickly added, “Jamie is SUPER talented, this isn’t against him, but y’all spamming me an impression of my late Dad on one of his saddest days is weird.”
This isn’t the first time that Zelda has had to issue a statement on the social media site regarding the Good Will Hunting star’s fans’ interactions with her. On the sixth anniversary of Robin’s passing, she tweeted a long message announcing she would be taking a break from social media for a period of time.
“As always, I will not be here,” she tweeted at the time. “It’s hard for me on regular, good days to remain the person expected to graciously accept the world’s need to share their memories of him and express their condolences for his loss.”
While she insisted she was “constantly touched by all of your boundless continued love for him,” she’d sometimes feel like she was seen “as a roadside memorial — a place, not a person — where people drive past and leave their sentiments to then go about their days comforted their love for him was witnessed.”
Zelda added, starkly and beautifully, “After all, even roses by the truckload weigh a ton.” The video featuring Costas and his emotional and almost eerily accurate impersonation of the late comedian can be found here or watched below.