Director and former actor Ron Howard may have landed his first series regular gig on The Andy Griffith Show at the ripe old age of 5, but even a preternatural talent may get rusty. At least that was the worry of Howard’s daughter, actress and director Bryce Dallas Howard — so much so that she accompanied him to set for his gig on The Studio.
“He’s so good!” Bryce kvelled from the stage of the 92nd Street Y during a recent post-screening Q&A of her new Disney + documentary Pets, referring to Ron’s turn as an amped-up version of himself on Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s Hollywood insider series on Apple TV +. But she was “sooooo nervous for him, because he hasn’t acted [in a long time.]”
Ron, who appeared on stage toward the end of the hourlong chat between Bryce and host Josh Horowitz as a surprise gag, nodded along in his trademark ball cap.
“He’s done some stuff in Arrested Development, he’s done some cameos here and there, but [this was] a real part — with, like, dialogue — and they are shooting it all with ‘oners’, you cannot mess up!” she said.
“I was very nervous for him, so I went with him. I was like a ‘momager,'” Bryce joked, using the industry term for an oftentimes meddling parent of a child actor.
“I went with him to set, I liked what he was wearing, I approved of that,” she said to some chuckles from Dad. “I made sure he was hydrated,” she added, noting that once he did the rehearsal, he was “so on point everyone was sort of baffled by it, frankly.”
Before Ron had a chance to ask “Gee, why did you think I would stink?” she applauded his technique, adding, “I guess you have learned a bit from Tom Hanks over the years. You were great before Tom Hanks, but he definitely rubbed off on you.”
Ron Howard is, of course, a two-time Oscar winner for directing and producing A Beautiful Mind. His other celebrated films include Splash, Apollo 13, and the Da Vinci Code trilogy (all of which starred Tom Hanks), as well as Willow, Frost/Nixon, and Solo: A Star Wars Story. His company Imagine Entertainment is one of the most prolific and successful in showbiz. But it is true that he hasn’t had many high-profile regular acting gigs since Happy Days went off the air in 1984.
The Seth Rogen-led series The Studio features a number of Hollywood players performing “as themselves,” including Martin Scorsese, Sarah Polley, Anthony Mackie, and Charlize Theron. But Howard’s appearance, miles from his nice guy real-life persona, was an instant fan favorite. If you haven’t seen this clip yet, here’s a rare look at Richie Cunningham getting aggro.
Bryce Dallas Howard’s Pets, her latest full-length documentary, is currently streaming on Disney +. She has also directed episodes for various Star Wars shows, includingThe Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett, and Skeleton Crew — and though she didn’t officially say so, she heavily implied during the 92NY chat that she wasn’t done with the galaxy far, far away just yet.
