Gwyneth Paltrow Acted in “Hook” as a Teen, but Admits She Didn't Get to Know Robin Williams Until an Ex Brought Them Together
- - Gwyneth Paltrow Acted in “Hook” as a Teen, but Admits She Didn't Get to Know Robin Williams Until an Ex Brought Them Together
Virginia ChamleeJanuary 21, 2026 at 3:11 AM
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Taylor Hill/FilmMagic; Ryan Pierse/Getty
Gwyneth Paltrow (left), Robin Williams -
Though Gwyneth Paltrow and Robin Williams both appeared in the 1991 film Hook, it would be years before they actually got to know each other
The connection, the actress says, was thanks to her ex-boyfriend, Ben Affleck
Paltrow and Williams both appeared in the 1991 classic, with Paltrow as a young Wendy Darling opposite Williams as Peter Pan
While Gwyneth Paltrow and Robin Williams both appeared in the 1991 film Hook, it would be years before they got to know each other — and it was all thanks to Paltrow's ex-boyfriend, Ben Affleck.
Paltrow, now 53, and Affleck, also 53, dated for three years, on and off, in the late 1990s — and began their courtship just before his 1997 film Good Will Hunting, premiered. It was that film — in which Williams also starred — that allowed her to reconnect with the comedian.
"I only got to know him a bit when Good Will Hunting came out," Paltrow said on the January 6, 2026 episode of Amy Poehler's Good Hang podcast. "Because I was dating one of the people who wrote that movie and was in that movie, so I got to know him then."
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Paltrow and Williams both appeared in the 1991 classic Hook, with Paltrow as a young Wendy Darling opposite Williams as Peter Pan — but as she told Poehler, she didn't actually work with Williams for the role.
But when Affleck worked with him for Good Will Hunting, she got to know him more.
"Oh, he’s so good," Paltrow said of Williams in Good Will Hunting. "I love that movie. It's a perfect movie. I love it so much."
Both Affleck and his co-writer Matt Damon won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for the film, while Williams won for Best Supporting Actor.
Williams died by suicide at age 63 on Aug. 11, 2014, at his Paradise Cay mansion in San Francisco after struggling with an undiagnosed case of the debilitating brain disorder Lewy Body Dementia (LBD).
In a 2021 interview with Jake's Takes, Affleck reflected on the type of mentor Williams was to him, saying,"I loved Robin. He was the first person that I really met or knew who was, like, 'famous.' We had just written this movie, and it was amazing that it got made, and then Robin Williams, who was probably the biggest star around at that time, was in the movie. I mean, he did so much for us by believing in us and doing that movie, and also by how warm and lovely and kind he was and collaborative."
Affleck added: "I just thought, 'Well if this guy can do it and be kind to people and collaborate and work with people and care about them and listen to them, I certainly can.' "
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
