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How some advice from Paul McCartney helped Ron Howard reconcile his past with his present
Howard got by with a little help from his friend.
For some people, Ron Howard is a prolific director, known for his work on films like Parenthood and Cocoon. But to the more nostalgic folks, Howard will remain Opie Taylor or Richie Cunningham.
Before Howard blazed his own trail as a creative, he starred in hit sitcoms like Happy Days and The Andy Griffith Show.
But as he grew older and his priorities shifted behind the camera, Howard intentionally took on fewer and fewer roles as an actor, wishing to be known first and foremost as a director.
Howard was able to reconcile these two pieces of his life during the filming of one of his documentaries, The Beatles: Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years.
The documentary focuses on the early days of the Fab Four’s career, and features interviews wth former Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.
According to People, Howard had praise for both musicians. “They have a lot of wisdom about the world around them, a lot of kind of humility about what they experienced and what it meant to them, and yet an appetite for life that is rich.”
Howard also described an insightful moment he and McCartney had during the filming process when Howard thanked McCartney for being so open about his life. “He [McCartney] said, ‘A couple of years ago, I finally realized that I've done enough with the rest of my life that I didn't have to be guarded about talking about The Beatles. I could embrace that. It wasn't taking anything away from my life after the Beatles. And it was a real turning point for me. And now I can look at it more openly,’”
Howard took McCartney’s words to heart. They allowed him to come to terms with his performing past and understand that they didn’t undermine his talent as a director.
“In my own way, I recognize that I feel that way about talking about my acting career and my childhood,” said Howard. “I think I've been a director far longer than I was an actor now, and been rewarded for it in ways that mean a lot to me. And it's liberating. So now people want to call me Opie, want to call me Richie, that's a nickname that I feel a lot of affection for in a way that I didn't feel in the past.”
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