10 Roles You Didn't Know Robin Williams Almost Played

10. Frank Ginsburg - Little Miss Sunshine

A role originally written for Bill Murray (who declined), the gentle, suicidal Frank was probably the standout and best role in this warm, highly acclaimed road movie. Made with a modest budget, the original studio executives on the film wanted a higher profile star to anchor Little Miss Sunshine and allow for a wider theatrical distribution. Directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris had already selected Steve Carell, based on a long conversation in which, despite their reservations as to his lack of appropriate experience (The Office and The 40 Year Old Virgin being in the future at that time), he€™d won them over with his take on the character, which was identical to their own. Despite this, studio executives continued putting pressure on the duo for greater star power, and Williams was the name that came up the most for the role of Frank, the gay literary scholar who€™d lost the love of his life. It was a role Williams could have sunk his teeth into, but instead Dayton and Faris won out and were allowed to proceed. Steve Carell would go on to do a wonderful job, cementing his status as a face to watch. In the meantime, Williams would do rather less well with another, similar project €“ the predictable and far broader road trip family comedy, RV.