One actor “very badly” wants to work with Ron Howard, but he refuses to cast them: “Let’s talk, dude”
Many words, not all of them positive, have been used to describe Ron Howard as a director, but “ruthless” has never been one of them, which shouldn’t come as a surprise when we’re talking about a filmmaker who doesn’t have a bad bone in his body.
Or, if he does, he knows how to hide them. Living proof that nice guys don’t always finish last, the former child actor has spent his entire life in the spotlight and found success on both sides of the camera without an argument, feud, petulant fit of Hollywood rage, burned bridge, or broken fence to speak of, which is rare.
Most people in the industry have at least one skeleton in their closet, but if you were asked to name one Academy Award winner with a multi-billion-dollar filmography who doesn’t, Howard would be right up there. And yet, despite their continued protestations at being denied a role in any of his films, he’s treated one actor with a combination of tough love and spite.
That said, the Happy Days alum has shown that he doesn’t play favourites. Yes, his brother, Clint, has appeared in 17 of his features. Yes, his father, Rance, was involved in 15 of them. And, yes, his mother, Jean, played a role in five, but he did at least make her audition for Apollo 13 when he didn’t think she was right for the part, fully expecting her to fail before she left him suitably impressed.
However, despite being a vastly experienced actor in her own right, Bryce Dallas Howard has never been cast in a Ron Howard movie. In a place like Hollywood, where nepotism continues to run more rampant than ever, it’s mind-boggling that she hasn’t. It’s not from a lack of trying, though, after she explained that she’s constantly on his case about it.
“When I was like seven, I was an extra, but I’ve never worked with him professionally as an actor, with dialogue and all of that,” she confessed. “But I want to. I want to very badly. And I would always sort of harass him about it. And now I’m like, ‘Let’s talk, dude.'”
Howard has gone on record to say that his daughter is the only person capable of convincing him to step back in front of the cameras to play his first full-fledged acting role in decades that isn’t a cameo where he plays himself, but for whatever reason, he hasn’t seen fit to return the favour ahead of time by hiring her for any of his projects.
Bryce was in the background of Parenthood, Apollo 13, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and A Beautiful Mind, but since making her acting debut in 2004’s Book of Love, her old man has helmed 12 movies and hasn’t cast her in any of them. She’s asked, repeatedly from the sound of it, and hasn’t landed so much as an audition.
It is weird that he’d happily cast his brother and parents in so many films but not his daughter, especially when she’s a known actor in her own right, but it’s bound to happen one day. Until then, Bryce remains on her dad’s no-fly list.
