Ron Howard Remembers Directing Dad Rance in ‘Apollo 13’

Ron Howard is looking back at Apollo 13 and the role his dad, Rance Howard, played in the film.

On Sept. 27, Ron, 71, shared to Instagram a photo of him and his dad on the set of Apollo 13. In the 1995 movie about the 1970 Apollo 13 lunar mission, Ron cast his dad as a minister who tries to guide the family of Commander Jim Lovell, played by Tom Hanks.

“I’m directing my dad #RanceHoward on the set of #Apollo13Movie,” Ron wrote in the caption. Rance, who died in 2017 at age 89, began acting in his early 20s and also supported Ron and his brother Clint when they launched their own careers as child actors. 

“At one point I think my dad held a record for having played the most men-of-the-cloth of any other American actor,” Ron continued. “Not sure how accurate that claim was, but he had an admirable moral compass he was guided by though not much of a church goer himself.” Ron added that it’s been “fun” have Apollo 13 back in theaters and on Imax for its 30th anniversary this year.

Ron also cast his mom, Jean Speegle Howard, in the movie as the mother of Hanks’ character, though he was initially hesitant. His father read the Apollo 13 script and called him and said, “You know, your mother would make a great Mrs. Lovell,” Ron told PEOPLE this August. Ron wasn’t so sure and said, “She’s not really old enough.” He offered to audition her at home.

“I said, ‘Mom, you don’t really look old enough for Mrs. Lovell.'” She told him, “Oh, well, you can add some wrinkles and we’ll get the right glasses and I’ll mat my hair down.”

Though the reading went well, “the age thing” was still bothering him. “She literally turned away and took her false teeth out and said, ‘Will this help?’” Howard remembered with a laugh. “I said, ‘Okay, mom, you got it.'” Ron’s mom died in 2000 at age 73.

Apollo 13 also starred Kevin Bacon, Gary Sinise, Ed Harris and the late Bill Paxton. It was nominated for nine Oscars, including Best Picture, and won the awards for Best Film Editing and Best Special Effects.

Ron began appearing in films at a young age. In 1956, at age 2, he appeared in the 1956 film Frontier Woman with both his parents. In 1960, he was cast as Opie Taylor in The Andy Griffith Show. Rance appeared as a guest star on the series multiple times, as did Ron’s brother Clint, now 66. 

Ron told Vulture in August that his dad actually gave key advice that defined how Opie interacted with his on-screen dad Andy Taylor (played by Griffith). “Andy told me that my dad had come to him very early on in the show and said, ‘You’re writing Opie the way most sitcom kids are written. They’re wisea– and smarter than the dad,’ ” he said.

“Now, I don’t know if Dad was just worried about me getting into bad habits, or I think he was, in his own very simple way, actually teaching me Actors Studio stuff. It was the simplest version of method acting, finding the truth in moments,” he said. “I think maybe he felt like there was a lot of artifice in these punch-line-driven deliveries that would be required.”

In 1975, all four Howard family actors appeared in the TV movie Huckleberry Finn. Rance appeared in many of Ron’s films, including his 1977 directorial debut Grand Theft Auto, 1984’s Splash, 1985’s Cocoon, 1994’s The Paper and 2000’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas. 2011’s The Dilemma was the last time he was directed by his son.