Mara Wilson might be the only former child star to grow up, turn her back on Hollywood, and spend her time writing beautiful observations about the world.

Because she graciously reverted to a certain level of anonymity, you might not know who Mara Wilson is. She played Matilda in the movie Matilda and the younger daughter in Mrs Doubtfire.

She played Robin Williams ‘ daughter in a movie, but as she recalls, she felt at times like he played her father in real life.

So, having worked with Robin when she was just a child, news of his death by suicide is heartbreaking for her in a more intimate way than most. She knew him, she played sock puppets with him on set, and she saw his legendary kindness up close.

Because she writes beautiful things for a living now and because he meant so very much to her, Mara Wilson wrote a beautiful thing about her friend Robin Williams.

She says on her blog, Mara Wilson Writes Stuff:

Those memories include how he used to keep her and the other kids entertained between takes by impersonating a walrus with chopsticks, putting sock puppet plays on, and paying them the fragile, gentle attention of a man who felt more comfortable talking to children than to adults (a bit like Mrs Doubtfire).

That fragility wasn’t something Mara saw herself until she met Robin again as an adult:

The next time Mara saw Robin, he was filming on location at New York University, where she was studying. He was walking back to his trailer and she yelled his name. He turned and saw a girl in a black hoodie waving at him with the familiarity of someone who knew him, stopped, and realised who it was. They chatted about university and life.

“It was small talk,” says Mara. “But something about the way Robin looked at me made it feel like he truly cared. This was someone for whom everything mattered.”

And what matters now, for Mara and for everyone who adored Robin Williams, is that we speak about the illness that took him from this world with candour. That we take depression and mental illness seriously, and find ways to protect those who are vulnerable to it.

True to her character and her way with words, Mara wrote on that subject with the eloquence of someone who knows what it’s like to see the darkness within someone consume them:

And finally, Mara writes about the profound and rather beautiful impact Robin Williams had on her as a child, and every child who watched him onscreen. “If you can affect someone when they’re young, you are in their heart forever. It is remarkable how many lives Robin touched, and how many people said, just as I had, that he reminded them of their fathers,” she writes.

“I suppose — could I really end this any other way? — we’re all his goddamn kids, too.”

And because we adore Mara Wilson for her intellect, sassiness, and sensitivity, here’s a bunch of pictures of her:

Matilda

Matilda

Matilda

Mrs Doubtfire

Mrs Doubtfire

Mrs Doubtfire

Mrs Doubtfire

Miracle on 34th Street

Thomas and the Magic Railroad

You might like to read some of our other stories on the one and only Robin Williams: