Mara Wilson shares an adorable story about learning about sex on the set of “Mrs. Doubtfire”
Having “the sex talk” is a cringe-worthy memory we’d all like to forget, but thankfully, ours didn’t happen on the set of a major movie. Mara Wilson, child star and author of Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame, told the story of how she learned about sex, and how Robin Williams was a part of it.
In an excerpt from her new book featured on Buzz Books, Mara was just six years old when she was filming Mrs. Doubtfire back in 1993. One night, her mother decided to give her “the sex talk,” and the next day on set, Mara couldn’t contain her excitement about her newfound knowledge. “I wasn’t focusing on the scene. I was bubbling with excitement, because I knew this thing, this big open secret, and I could not keep it in any longer,” she wrote.
She ended up asking her hairdresser named Virginia if she had ever “done it.” Virginia didn’t answer and walked away, but word spread across set, helped by the fact that Mara began screaming, “I KNOW ABOUT SE-EX! I KNOW ABOUT SE-EX!” in a sing-song voice.
Mara’s mother was the only one who didn’t find this song hilarious. “Instantly, I felt humiliated,” she wrote. “And worst of all, I knew I had brought it all on myself. I thought I might start crying.”
Robin Williams had also gotten wind of Mara’s discovery, and he couldn’t resist letting director Chris Columbus in on the news. “Did you hear that Mara was asking Virginia about sex?” he told him.
However, Chris took this news and tried to work it into the scene, when Mara was helping Sally Field pick out a dress. “‘You know, Mara,’ Chris said, turning to me, ‘if you want, you can tell Sally her dress is sexy.’”
Get your hands on the full Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame when it comes out on September 13th!