Robin Williams As A Liar

In his new movie, Jakob the Liar, funnyman Robin Williams takes on his most serious role to date.

He plays a Jew in a Polish ghetto during the Holocaust who tells a lie that gives hope to people who have none. CBS News This Morning Co-Anchor Mark McEwen reports.

Hitler goes to a fortune teller and asks, "When will I die?"

And the fortune teller replies: "On a Jewish holiday."

Hitler then asks, "How do you know that?"

And she replies: "Any day you die will be a Jewish holiday."

"A joke from that time.Â…It's a human instinct; it's part of our survival mechanism," explains Williams, adding that in the film, humor is contrasted with horror and with moments of compassion.

"As the French say, 'riding the razor,' which is a very French image anyway. You're riding the razor; you're at Disneyland; what do I care?" asks Williams with a French accent.

In the film Jakob, portrayed by Williams, tells a lie, that he has found a radio and he's heard the Allies are close to winning the war.

"But it's good news/bad news," notes Williams, who also serves as the film's executive producer.

"The moment it starts to have an effect people start behaving recklessly. And then he starts to deny it and then people lose hope and die, and give up, and he's caught in a quandary," he explains.

Jakob is not a hero, notes Williams, explaining that he is a man caught in circumstances, just trying to survive.

"And then [he] makes a conscious choice to continue.Â…He finds a purpose, finally," he adds.

Although he portrays a Jewish character in a convincing performance, some people are surprised to learn Williams isn't Jewish.

"I think the reason people think I am Jewish is because once in a while I'll use a Yiddish word. I mean it's a language that's so amazing for comedy," he says.

Then as he speaks some German-sounding babble, Williams asserts German is not the language of love. "Now I'll get some German people saying, 'Yes, it's a language of love. Have you ever seen German pornography?'" he says.

Some people might compare Jakob the Liar to Life Is Beautiful, which Williams says is an automatic thing to do.

"We made them at the same time," he notes. (His production began on Oct. 12, 1997, in Piotrkow, Poland.) While Robert Benigni made his film a comedy, Jakob the Liar is a drama with moments of humor.

"You will compare some of the subject matter, but I think they're different enough," he says. "It's a different environment, a different kind of sensibility, and I hope people are open to this."

Commenting on his acting craft, Williams says over the years he has gotten more comfortable.

"The thing Peter Weir taught me years ago with Dead Poets [Society] is to be comfortable with slence," he says.

And he adds another skill is to be able to listen to people. "It took me a long time to learn that...to really involve yourself with that and see what happens."

Williams also learned a lot from people like Jeff Bridges, who taught him that accidents are gifts that infuse life to a scene, he says.

"A lot of time everything is planned to the second. And when something goes slightly awry, it's great. It all of a sudden puts you in a mode where you are dealing with it," he explains.

And when he goes back on stage, Williams will have to deal with the immediate response from the audience, which he says still makes him nervous.

"You get a five minute grace period of 'Oh you're Robin Williams'" he says. "Then it's like you have to think about stuff and what you're going to talk about and just getting comfort again," he adds.

Despite all his accomplishments, including an Oscar, Williams remains grounded, saying his family is what he is proudest of.

His wife Marsha actually found the script for Jakob the Liar. It's the second time she's struck lightning; the first was her discovery of Mrs. Doubtfire.

Jakob the Liar opens Sept. 24. Visit the Web site for more information.

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