The actor Ron Howard is “dying” to work with again
When you find a good thing, why let it go? Like a great marriage or a long-term friendship, there’s a beautiful legacy of directors and actors becoming seemingly committed to one another as they work together time and time again. Michael Keaton and Ron Howard could be counted as among the most harmonious.
Some of the best directors routinely call in the same cast. There is Wes Anderson, with his repeated collaborations with Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton and more as he appears to adopt an actor into his cinematic universe and keep them there. Yorgos Lanthimos is becoming the same as he’s about to release his third movie with his seeming muse, Emma Stone. Sofia Coppola and Kristen Dunst were a match made in heaven, and the same goes for Tim Burton and his regular troupe.
The collaboration between director and producer Ron Howard and actor Michael Keaton is one of the most notable cases. It’s an instance of if it’s not broken, don’t fix it as Howard seemed to call upon the actor time and time again as he proved his leading man abilities.
It was even Howard that gave the actor the first chance to try. While Keaton is now known as an incredibly accomplished lead actor with plenty of awards and accolades under his belt, when he first met the director, he was a newbie. He’d been gradually gaining a reputation for being TV’s new funny guy as he starred on Saturday Night Live, All’s Fair and Working Stiffs, where one of Howard’s team spotted him.
“Lowell Ganz – I mentioned, was one of the writers of Splash and had been one of the best and most significant contributors to Happy Days – had directed the pilot and some episodes of a show that Michael Keaton did with Jim Belushi [Working Stiffs],” Howard explained of how the actor came to be on his radar. At the same time, he had a promising script for a feature film that no one seemed to want to take on. “We couldn’t get Bill Murray to be in Night Shift, we couldn’t get John Belushi to be in Night Shift, we couldn’t get Chevy Chase [or] any of those mega comedy stars at that moment to be in Night Shift.”
With a role to fill, they decided to take a chance on the up-starter. “I auditioned him, and he just won the role, just like that,” Howard said, but Keaton didn’t just win that role. He impressed the director so much that they’ve gone on to make four projects together. They reunited in 1986 for Gung Ho, in 1988 for Clean and Sober, which Howard produced, in 1994 for The Paper and again in 1997 for Inventing The Abbots.
Immediately, Howard knew he’d found someone special and was determined to fight for him when the studio behind the film was dubious about risking a leading role in a relative unknown. “Michael was lightning in a bottle, although the studio wanted to fire him for about a week,” He said. “Brian and I, who were scared enough that we were going to get fired, were just courageous enough to defend him and wait the studio out, and soon they began to see just how explosive and funny he was.”
Even in 2013, 16 years on from the last time they worked together, Howard was still dedicated to the actor. “Michael Keaton is great, and I’m dying to work with Michael again,” he told the baftas. “If I find the right role, he’ll be my first call. I’d love to.”
