Santa Barbara Festival: Role Reversal: While Clint Howard Shines, Brother Ron Happily Supports in the Background

While Ron Howard was getting awards and adulation from behind the camera for directing movies like "Cinderella Man", "A Beautiful Mind", and "Apollo 13", his brother Clint, despite over 160 roles in television and movies, toiled in relative obscurity as a character actor. On Saturday night outside of the Victoria Hall Theatre in Santa Barbara, the roles were reversed.

Clint Howard was about to enter the second screening of his latest movie "Planet Ibsen" at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Howard plays 1800's Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen ("Peer Gynt" "A Doll's House"). The movie, which is directed by Jonathan Wyche, is a stylized version of the latter play. While older brother stood happily by, younger brother was graciously accepting congratulations from friends, and the adulation of fans.

Ron Howard said that he loved his brother's part in the movie.
I saw a cut nine of the movie nine months ago," Ron Howard said. "And I think that he gave a great performance. It is a really cool fascinating movie, that I am glad the Film Festival chose it." "It is a good movie and a great showcase for one of the better character actors around." Ron Howard then explained this was the reason why he would often cast his brother (and sometimes his father Rance) in his movies. "Anytime I have a good role for him or something for him to do, he always brings a measure of creativity with him to anything. And he's also a great guy to have on a movie, because he's a veteran, he's gung ho for the film, he's a lot of laughs, actors respect him....So he's always a great spirit to have on a movie.

"Not only is it great to have my brother there, but it is great to have Clint Howard the professional there."

Clint Howard agreed it was great to work with his brother on a personal and professional level. "Knowing his kind of creative mind, as best as I can, I know what he's looking for," Clint Howard said. "And in terms of improvising and adding stuff, I try to deliver the surprises that he's kind of expecting. That sounds kind of weird but, I think I try to deliver it for him and because of this, (on the set) we get along great."

"My brother's acting is always truthful," Ron Howard said. "And it's great to have someone with experience and a creative mind that can take you aside and tell you the truth about a scene and what's going on. That's not always something a director can have. It's a nice secret weapon to have in my corner."