LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18 (UPI) — Zelda Williams says she made it through dad Robin Williams‘ death by telling herself each day to keep living.
The 27-year-old actress revealed the mantra that kept her going on Thursday’s episode of “Chelsea” while discussing the “silver lining” of losing her father with host Chelsea Handler.
“I just kept going, ‘Okay. Well, today I’m going to wake up and love what I do. And then tomorrow I’m going to wake up and be happy and love what I do. And then the next day…’ because that’s all you can do. That’s it,” Williams said.
“It was very funny because for a while no one would let me do anything,” she recalled. “I think, like, there’s that reaction of, ‘Oh [expletive], are you okay?’ And even if you are okay, they’re like, ‘But what’s wrong?'”
Williams, the elder of Robin Williams and Marsha Garces’ two children, admitted she “didn’t see daylight for a while” after her dad died of suicide at age 63 in August 2014. She slowly worked through her grief while being largely “left to [her] own devices.”
“I ended up writing twelve scripts, which was great. But then also you’re like, ‘Is there something wrong with me?'” she shared. “So now I’m doing a lot more of that. I’ve been working really hard and it’s nice because you get to not sit with yourself too long.”
Williams had shared similar sentiments on the “Today” show in 2015, saying “you have to continue to live and manage” after tragedy. The actress honored her dad on his birthday in July by donating to Freedom Service Dogs of America.
