How Ron Howard’s “most difficult shot” was almost ruined by his father
Ron Howard grew up under the spotlight, and he wouldn’t have been able to craft such an illustrious career for himself if not for his father, Rance.
The pair made their on-screen debuts together – Rance was 28 and his son was just two years old – in the film Frontier Woman, and soon Howard was a child star. He appeared in The Andy Griffith Show before graduating to Happy Days in the 1970s, seamlessly transitioning from child to adult roles with the proficiency of a budding screen icon.
Yet, Howard soon decided to step back from being in front of the camera, choosing to begin a career as a director instead, making his debut with 1977’s Grand Theft Auto. It might have been a flop, but he found better success in the 1980s with movies like Splash, Willow, and Parenthood. Making commercially accessible movies, Howard has found significant success as a box-office sensation, and he has lent himself to everything from Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind to How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Throughout his time as a filmmaker, Howard has been responsible for coming up with some expansive ideas that he’s had to find a way to bring to life, and his biggest challenge came when he shot 1992’s Far and Away. Starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, the film received mixed reviews, but with the effort Howard put into it, he was probably hoping for a little more acclaim.
Talking to Stephen Colbert about “the most difficult shot” he’s “ever pulled off,” Howard revealed that the Oklahoma Land Run scene certainly takes the cake. “We had 750 people and horses lined up. We were going to fire a cannon. We had 13 cameras – two in the air, cameras dug in everywhere, and we were going to have this land race, and of course it’s dangerous.”
Referring to the process of setting up the shot with his cinematographer, Howard continued, “And as we’ve discussed, no actors in this take, right? And I said, yeah, you know, then we’ll go in for a second take. I’ll get close-ups on Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and I’ll get a shot of my dad and a couple of the other actors. And he says, well, that’s the problem. Your dad wants to be in the shot.”
Howard’s dad was keen to be a part of the scene, even though that would make things a lot more challenging. “100 years ago, I had three ancestors who rode in this race. 100 years later, my son, my firstborn, is directing a movie about it. I’m acting in it,” his father told him. “I just said, Dad, get your horse. And, uh, he’s in there. He’s in there.”
Luckily, he didn’t ruin the scene with his demands to appear in the pivotal sequence, and he successfully played his part in the cinematic depiction of a huge moment in American history, of which he had familial ties.
While Rance wasn’t a prolific actor – though he had small roles in the likes of Cool Hand Luke and Chinatown – his son was happy to cast him in bit parts throughout his filmography, and he appeared in everything from 1977’s Grand Theft Auto to 2011’s The Dilemma.
