One of the great things about this genie [from Aladdin] is that when Robin Williams created him, and they created this after him, they were allowed to go crazy and when they had to go find someone to play the role live, they had to find someone who was nutty enough to go in different directions.
James Monroe IglehartWhen I was skinny, I didn't get work. When I came out of college, I didn't get work until the Iglehart gene kicked in. Most of my family are large and that's when it started happening. My acrobats moves stayed with me.
James Monroe IglehartI do enjoy that folks [ Howard Ashman, Tim Rice and Chad Beguelin] really get into [ Aladdin ] because I enjoy getting it. I love it where you just get to go nuts. Ninety percent of what you hear, he wrote. There's ten percent that he let me play around with in the studio and actually put in the script if it was funny enough.
James Monroe IglehartI remembered getting the script for the auditions [of Aladdin], I had asked someone there if improvs were allowed, and he said everyone is sticking to the script. I said to myself that they are either going to love me or hate me. I was crossing out lines and throwing in my own lines. I went into the room and started doing things. They were like, "This boy is nuts! We should keep him." That's how it all came about.
James Monroe IglehartOne of the great things about this genie [from Aladdin] is that when Robin Williams created him, and they created this after him, they were allowed to go crazy and when they had to go find someone to play the role live, they had to find someone who was nutty enough to go in different directions.
James Monroe Iglehart