Matthew Lawrence wants to bring Robin Williams back — in a rather unique way.
Speaking with Entertainment Weekly at Comic-Con in San Diego on Friday, July 25, the actor — who starred in Mrs. Doubtfire as one of Williams’ kids — said he wants to use artificial intelligence (A.I.) to “do something really special” with the late comedian’s voice.
“Obviously, with the respect and with the okay from his family, I would love to do something really special with his voice, because I know for a generation, that voice is just so iconic,” Lawrence, 45, said.
“It’s not just the fact that I knew him and worked with him,” he continued. “It’s in my head, it’s in everybody’s head, and it would be so cool.”
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Matthew Lawrence and Robin Williams in ‘Mrs. Doubtfire.’
Lawrence and Williams starred alongside Sally Field, Mara Wilson, Lisa Jakub and Pierce Brosnan in the classic 1993 comedy film, which won two Golden Globes.
Mrs. Doubtfire follows a father, played by Williams, who poses as a nanny to spend time with his children. Williams died by suicide at age 63 in August 2014.
Lawrence told EW that the idea to use the actor’s voice for A.I. came after he saw an old commercial starring Williams and realized it featured some parallels to today.
Ethan Miller/Getty
Robin Williams in 2007.
“It’s kinda like this very contemporary, modern, almost sort of foreshadowing of what’s going on commercial that he did, where he did this computerized voiceover,” he told the outlet. “And it always stuck with me. And then, during his passing, with the A.I. coming out, I’m like, ‘Man, he’s gotta be the voice of A.I. He’s gotta be the voice in something.’ So yeah, I would love to do that.”
According to Lawrence, one thing he’d love is for Williams’ voice to be used to give driving directions on a phone.
“It would be so cool. I’m telling you,” he told EW.
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Back in April, Lawrence spoke with PEOPLE ahead of his appearance on The Masked Singer about why he dedicated his moving performance of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” to Williams.
The Boy Meets World alum said Williams always treated him like an adult, and as a result, the life advice the Oscar-winner shared with him when he was young has proven to be invaluable over the years.
“He really opened up,” Lawrence told PEOPLE. “I was only 12. I mean this guy … Man, he was just so amazing to be able to give me the respect, almost as an adult, at 12 years old, to really get an open look into his life, the performer side and then also the private side, and how they wrestled with each other.”
The ’90s star added that even after filming of Mrs. Doubtfire was complete, Williams stayed in touch. “He stayed a part of my life, you know? That movie could have wrapped [and] like everybody else, he could have gone his separate way, but he didn’t,” Lawrence said.
“He stayed invested, and he gave me some incredible life lessons that definitely kept me from some dark places at times. And I’ll just never be able to thank him enough for that,” added the star.
Read the original article on People
