Paul Feig has revealed that he and Robin Williams were once rivals on the stand-up comedy circuit, saying that the late actor almost "sabotaged" his career.
The director shared his story during an appearance on Jesse Tyler Ferguson's "Dinner's On Me" podcast, published Tuesday.
"I was in the era of when Jay Leno was out there and [Jerry] Seinfeld was out there and, you know, and I, and Robin Williams, I mean, yeah, I got sabotaged by Robin Williams a couple of times when I was ... finally got to be a performer at The Improv," Feig said of his early days at the comedy club franchise, according to People.
Feig noted that he "wasn't one of the main guys," so "you'd kinda have a later spot."
Then one night, he claimed, Williams blew his chances.
"I remember, like, once, it's my time to get up and there's a full audience. I was, like, so excited and they come up, like, 'Oh, you know, Robin just wants to get up and do a quick set first.' I'm like, 'Well cool,'" Feig said.
"He did an hour and he finished it. Everybody left except for one woman who was waiting for her husband to come back from the bathroom."
During the conversation, Feig also recalled a major turning point in his career, when NBC acquired "Freaks and Geeks," a project he had been working on.
"It was huge, I mean, it was life changing," he said noting that he was in London when get received the news.
"I remember I was on the tube and had this little notebook, and I wrote in the notebook, 'I think I'm about to get everything I've ever wanted out of my life in my life,'" he shared.
"And it was just, like, I couldn't believe it, because I've been struggling for so long. So it was great. I remember when the first episode came out, the reviews were unbelievable. They were just glowing, glowing reviews," he added.
Later in his career, Feig would direct 14 episodes of "The Office," earning two Emmy nominations and a Directors Guild of America Award for his contributions to the show.
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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