Who knew Robin Williams was this generous?

Actress Jessica Chastain, who appeared in both The Tree of Life and The Help this summer, has revealed that her education at Julliard was funded entirely by a scholarship paid for by Robin Williams.

Chastain, who doesn’t come from a wealthy family, says she would never have been able to afford the cost of the prestigious New York school if it were not for Williams’ scholarship. She elaborates by explaining that the scholarship “paid for my schooling, back and forth to go home for Christmas, books, everything. He actually made it possible for me to go to school there because my family were not incredibly wealthy and I was the first one to go to college.”

Though she has never met Williams, Chastain did have a close encounter with him in a restaurant. While she considered thanking him there, he left rather quickly but, as she says, “I had the urge to go run after him but I thought he would think I was crazy. I missed the opportunity to thank him for his generosity, so I’m sure at some point I’ll be able to meet him at a party or an event and I will then be the crazy person who runs up to him and says, ‘Oh my gosh, you changed my life!'”

Let’s hope that Williams’ scholarship will continue to produce actresses of the caliber of Jessica Chastain. While Chastain appears in The Help, Williams (or rather his voice) will next appear in November’s Happy Feet 2.

Via Digital Spy