The actor Ron Howard has always regretted never working with again: “I’m hoping to rectify that”
Whenever a director complains that there’s an actor they loved working with, who they’ve never been able to work with again, it always seems strange when the solution is simple: cast them in something. Despite his clout in the industry, Ron Howard continues to lament the one-time star who continues to get away.
One person you can guarantee will never appear in one of his films is Bill Murray, because he hates the former child star and Academy Award-winning filmmaker with a passion. The feud has been simmering for decades, so don’t expect the Saturday Night Live alum to pop up as part of a Howard ensemble.
The erstwhile Richie Cunningham has been around for so long that he’s amassed one of the most eclectic lists of collaborators in cinema history. Can anyone else say they’ve worked with John Wayne, Sydney Sweeney, Bette Davis, Kevin James, Henry Fonda, Warwick Davis, George Lucas, and Donnie Wahlberg? Probably not, but he can.
And yet, even though there are certain performers he’s worked with on multiple pictures, a list that includes his brother, Clint, his father, Rance, his mother, Jean, Tom Hanks, Russell Crowe, Ed Harris, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, and Chris Hemsworth, a former member of his repertory has become a source of regret.
For a while, it looked like they might become a regular duo. Michael Keaton took second billing behind Henry Winkler in Night Shift, before being listed first in the credits in Gung Ho and The Paper, giving him a prime placement in two of Howard’s first five features, and three of the first nine. Since then, though, they’ve never crossed paths again.
At the ceremony celebrating his second star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the filmmaker admitted it’s been bugging him for a while. “I’ve been so lucky in this business, I’ve worked with so many great people,” he offered. “I have so few regrets, practically none of them.” As soon as he said that, he revealed the one that’s been niggling forever.
“One of them is just only that it’s been far too long since Michael and I made a movie together,” he added. “So I’m hoping to rectify that sooner rather than later.” Not to tell Howard how to do his job, but he’s made a lot of movies since then, so it isn’t like he’s been short of opportunities to extend the olive branch toward the ex-Batman and reunite them for a fourth time.
He’s helmed 18 pictures in the three decades since The Paper, and Keaton hasn’t gone anywhere. Well, he did for a while, but that was a decision of his own making. Surely there was either a leading or supporting role that he could have played, instead of Howard suggesting that it’s always remained agonisingly out of his reach, despite the pair of them being established and well-known names in their respective fields.
Since Howard shows no signs of slowing down, and neither does Keaton, perhaps it’s only a matter of time before the former finally gets that monkey off his back, and all it would take is a phone call.
