Ron Howard was born into a show biz family making his acting debut at the ripe old age of 18 months. He made his screen debut at when he turned four and has spent his entire life in Hollywood with his breakout role as Opie Taylor on the “The Andy Griffith Show” shining a national spotlight on this adorable little kid from Duncan, Oklahoma.  As he grew up, he transitioned into playing teenagers on such television series as “Happy Days,” “The Fonz and the Happy Days Gang,”  “Laverne & Shirley,” and “Love, American Style.” He had co-starring roles in movies made for television as well as a part in the iconic coming-of-age film “American Graffiti.”

Over the course of his amazing career, Ron has won 39 awards which include, two Academy Awards, (“A Beautiful Mind,” and “Apollo 13”) four Emmys, a Grammy, two Golden Globes and was nominated for seven BAFTA Awards and was a recipient of the National Medal of Arts in 2001. He was honored twice by receiving two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to the television and motion picture industries.

There are too many films to list but some of the most memorable include, “Cocoon,” “Splash,” “Parenthood,” “Cinderella Man,” Rush,” “Backdraft,” “The Da Vinci Code,” “Angels & Demons,” and “Frost/Nixon.” Ron is a national treasure with a reputation of being one of the nicest people in Hollywood, which is attested to by the famous actors with whom he has worked including, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe, Mel Gibson, Kurt Russell, Gary Sinise, Daryl Hannah, Robert Duvall, Steve Martin, Michael Keaton, Kevin Bacon, Ed Harris, Ewan McGregor, Henry Winkler, and Bill Paxton.  Ron is married to Cheryl Howard and they have four children:  Bryce Dallas, twins Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige, and their son Reed Cross.

Recap:  In Part 1 Ron discussed the making of “Pavarotti.”  His goal was to illuminate the life and times of the world’s most famous tenor.  The documentary includes interviews with Pavarotti’s family as well as rare archival footage.  The film is CBS Films Polygram Entertainment Brian Grazer presentation, an Imagine Entertainment and White Horse Pictures production, and is scheduled to open in select cities on June 7.

Following is Part 2 of my exclusive interview with Ron Howard, which has been edited for content and continuity for print purposes.

There is a thru line to your films, which are character-driven with a deep sensitivity to the human condition.  Why is that your preference?

Ron: I always think about character-driven stories.  As a fan, those are the stories that reach me the most deeply.  I can appreciate a good action movie or a fantasy that isn’t character driven and some of them are great.  But the movies and television shows that resonate with me are the ones where the characters are tested in ways that I find fascinating or I relate to or I feel I learned something through observing their journey – whether it’s fiction or based on real events.

A lot of young actors don’t make a healthy transition.  Some become drug addicts, some commit suicide.  Obviously, you never fell prey to some of the pitfalls of early success and the inherent financial rewards.  Another transition was when you decided you wanted to direct.  How was that received by the industry?

Ron:  That was another time and there were access limitations.  There was no cable, there were just three television channels and no independent stations, there was no Sundance, or independent film markets so it was a much more closed industry.   Generally, people were pretty patronizing when I would say that I wanted to direct.  They’d say how cute and someday I’m sure you will.  I was just chafing to do it now.  My dream was to direct a movie while I was still a teenager which I didn’t achieve, but my first film rolled the day after my 23rd birthday so I didn’t miss it by too much.

What grabs you when you’re reading a script?

Ron:  Usually it’s a surprise.  There’s something fresh about the setting and I like the way the characters are behaving within that setting and I feel like the script is offering the audience something fresh.

How do you set up your scenes with your actors?

Ron:  Through rehearsals and conversations, I try to understand what makes them tick as artists and I try to create an environment, which will allow them to excel.  I make known aspects of the scene that I think are important.  Some actors really want to talk about their characters and delve into it while others are very self-sufficient and lose something if they over articulate it or over analyze it.  As a director, I like to feel that I adapt my approach to what I think will allow the actor to really soar.

When you’re working with a narrative script, do you allow for improvisations or changes to the script as you’re shooting?

Ron:  It depends a little bit on the nature of it.  If I think the actor or actress has a gift, I’m definitely more inclined to try to open up some time in the schedule to let them improvise.   You wouldn’t think it, but the movie “Cocoon” had a lot of improvisation in it.  Other movies like “Parenthood” were very loose and very realistic and had very little improv.  It was tightly scripted and worked.  Even “Arrested Development” was initially supposed to have a lot of improvisation, but the scripts were so tight that while the actors might riff a little bit here and there, they just stuck with Mitch’s writing (Mitchell Hurwitz).  It gets down to how are we using our resources for the best effect.  Is it through improv or is it executing the script as written?

In a given week or a month, how many scripts land on your desk?

Ron:  Well, it depends on whether or not I’m shooting.  I’m getting ready to direct a scripted project from Netflix called “Hillbilly Elegy,” which will be starring Glenn Close and Amy Adams.  During the nine weeks of shooting in Georgia and Ohio, I doubt that I’ll be reading any scripts.  When I’m just being co-chairman of Imagine Entertainment, I will read two or three scripts a week.

As always, I look forward to seeing your next film.

Ron:  Thank you so much.  This was fun.

Ron Howard Interview, Part 1: Ron Howard Discusses His Documentary on the Iconic Tenor Luciano Pavarotti

The post Ron Howard on His Career Transition, Script Selection & Directing appeared first on Traveling Archive.

Ron Howard certainly falls into the category of a national treasure beginning with his role as America’s favorite kid, Opie, on “The Andy Griffith Show.”  Since that time, that little kid from Duncan, Oklahoma, co-starred in a variety of episodic television shows as well as directing Emmy-award winning programs.  He made his feature film directing debut with “Grand Auto Theft” subsequently working with some of the most famous Hollywood actors, including Robert De Niro, Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Kurt Russell, Mel Gibson, Gary Sinise, Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Ed Harris, and Bill Paxton.  He has directed some of the film industry’s most memorable films including, “Cocoon,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “Splash,” “Parenthood,” “Cinderella Man,” “Frost/Nixon,” and “Apollo 13” which garnered the Best Director Oscar.

Your reporter sat down with this brilliant director for an exclusive interview to discuss his latest film, “Pavarotti,” a documentary on the life, times, and struggles of one of the world’s most famous tenors. A CBS Films Polygram Entertainment Brian Grazer presentation, the film is an Imagine Entertainment and White Horse Pictures production, and is scheduled to open in select cities on June 7.

The following has been edited for content and continuity for print purposes.

You’ve made two successful documentaries: “Made in America” and “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week – The Touring Years.” Why a documentary on Pavarotti?

Ron: I was drawn to his personal and professional journey, which I thought was inspiring and very dramatic and a great human-interest story. He had missteps and foibles but at the end of the day, I felt there was an interesting paradox with this very common, earthy guy performing at that high level for so many years. The film is a blend of his life and what I could reveal about opera, what it takes to sing opera, and what opera can mean on an emotional level. I could offer audiences something a little surprising. That’s what drew me to make the film.

When you were doing your research and interviewing people, did you discover something that surprised you?

Ron: It was interesting to understand the way he navigated in the world. So on one hand, he was not an innocent, but he wanted people to like him and he wanted to make people feel comfortable. At the same time, he was a shrewd businessman and he cared about the deals.  I was surprised at the way his career sort of flattened out. He went into a period of a kind of a malaise wherein he cancelled appearances and was just down in general in the wake of some romances that didn’t work out. His marriage was really over but he didn’t feel he could get a divorce. Catholic and Italian made a divorce highly problematic for him and his family.

Was it easy to get cooperation from his family?

Ron: I didn’t interview his first wife Adua Veroni because I don’t speak Italian and I was directing “Solo – A Star Wars Story” at that time. I think the family was incredibly courageous. They gave us all a gift – not by just offering insight into Luciano – all his foibles and all his disappointments – but also by giving us an object lesson in forgiveness. I didn’t expect that.  None of us expected that to come out of those interviews and it wasn’t just Adua, it was also the daughters.

Did someone in Pavarotti’s life impact him life in a positive way?

Ron: I was surprised that Princess Diana, who I had an opportunity to meet a couple of times over the years and actually talked to her, had a deep effect on him. Her dedication to philanthropy seemed to reinvigorate him in a way and he took that on himself. That was something that came out of the interviews.

What is it about documentaries that you find particularly exciting?

Ron: I always enjoyed them and they satisfy my curiosity. They’re related to a lot of the narrative stories that I’ve done – the ones that are either based on real events or they’re fiction and meant to depict the world like the movie “The Paper.” I wanted the journalism to feel realistic even though it was a fictional story. There’s a lot of research involved. I always found that fascinating and as I’ve done that, it’s made me more and more curious about what it would be like to make a documentary and take on that responsibility. In the three films I’ve done, I’ve had fantastic collaborators who were helping me understand that discipline. I find it very satisfying. It’s a departure in some ways from what I do when I’m directing a scripted narrative piece, but they’re more related than I expected it to be.

What is the difference between making a narrative film vs. a documentary?

Ron: Basically, you’re skipping over the production side with a documentary and going right to post. Whenever I’m in post production, I always forget about what it was like to shoot and just look at what we have and try to explore what its virtues are and what it can be. Actually, the big difference is that the story has to kind of define itself for you based on the acquired footage and what the interviewees have to say. So, you have your goals, you’ve done your research, you start thinking about what the story is going to be, but you can’t be sure. It does sort of present itself. When you’re working on a scripted project, you have a lot more editorial control over what it is you want to say and how you want to work with the story to say it. In this case, Pavarotti’s spirit informed every interview and even if they were acknowledging warts and disappointments, the take-away was always that the scales dipped dramatically to the positive. His spirit, and his sense of giving were pure and something everyone respected and appreciated.

Your film definitely fulfills his wish to bring opera to the masses.

Ron: Thank you. If we accomplished that, I’d feel that we have helped Luciano Pavarotti to fulfill his agenda.

Thank you so much for a gracious interview.

Ron: Nice interview. Thank you.

Stay tuned for Part 2 in which Ron Howard discusses transitioning from actor to director, how he chooses his scripts, and his directing approach.

The post Ron Howard Discusses His Documentary on the Iconic Tenor Luciano Pavarotti appeared first on Traveling Archive.