"Robin Williams: What drew me to the role just was the idea of a guy trying to give back, who hadn’t been practicing in a while. Here he is, a vet with a history, with a life, an intelligent guy who admits he’s not as brilliant as the kid but who is saying, You’re brilliant but you don’t know shit about certain things. That appealed to me deeply. What can you give a kid like that? The one thing you can give him is just saying, “I can only offer you a certain point of view.” It’s almost like going though rehab and just trying to say, I know who you are, I know who you think you are. Let’s try to get down to who you are. That’s why that scene by the swan boats is so kind of basic, saying: The only thing I have to offer you is my experience if I can help you. That’s what made it very powerful for me."