Late actor Robin Williams intervened to protect child actors from working illegal overtime on the set of the 1995 film Jumanji.
Williams stood up against producers to prevent Bradley Pierce and Kirsten Dunst from exceeding legal working hours during an eight-day shoot for a monsoon sequence.
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Thirteen-year-old Pierce experienced breathing difficulties due to water exposure and heavy monkey makeup. Production members attempted to extend filming beyond legal limits to save over $100,000.
After learning about the attempt to bypass labor restrictions, Williams directly confronted director Joe Johnston and the producers to stop the extended filming session.
"I couldn't breathe through my nose," Pierce said.
The intense shooting conditions left the young cast exhausted after days of filming in water.
"Children can only be on set for a number of hours," Pierce explained.
The production team tried to convince the children's parents to allow extra work time to avoid expensive filming extensions.
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"That's not uncommon at all in the industry because it literally saves $100,000 (£73,000) plus to do that extra half hour rather than a whole day," Pierce said.
Williams put an immediate stop to the negotiation once he overheard the producers' requests.
"He said, 'No, we are not doing any extra time. You're going to let everybody out now and we're going to come back next week,'" Pierce recalled.
Pierce noted that Williams showed rare advocacy for young actors in an industry driven by financial considerations.
"For all the dollars that would have cost, nobody would have stood up the way he did.
In addition to being warm, generous and kind, he was also very protective," Pierce said.
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The film was based on Chris van Allsburg's 1981 book, where the title Jumanji originates from a Zulu word meaning "many effects."
