Ron Howard Says Acting Gave Him a ‘Broader Understanding of the World,’ Inspiring His ‘Curiosity’ as He Directs New Doc “Avedon” (Exclusive)
Ron Howard Says Acting Gave Him a ‘Broader Understanding of the World,’ Inspiring His ‘Curiosity’ as He Directs New Doc “Avedon” (Exclusive)
Lizzie HymanWed, November 11, 2026 at 5:35 PM UTC
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Ron Howard on October 10, 2026 in East Hampton, New York.Credit: Mark Sagliocco/Getty -
Ron Howard is exploring the life and legacy of legendary photographer Richard Avedon in a new documentary
“I really loved doing the scripted movies about real events, and then this transition about 12 years ago into docs where fact sharing is your promise to the audience is really satisfying to me,” Howard tells PEOPLE about becoming a documentarian
Avedon is now streaming on Netflix
Ron Howard has “always been curious” about people and interested in “getting to the bottom of what makes them tick.” The late fashion and portrait photographer Richard Avedon was no exception.
In the new biographical documentary Avedon, now streaming on Netflix, Howard, 72, explores the life and legacy of the legendary photographer, who died at 81 following a cerebral hemorrhage. Through never-before-seen photographs, behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with those who knew him best, the film reveals the stories behind some of Avedon’s most iconic images.
“A documentary like this; there’s glamor, it’s kind of funny, he’s very glib, you know, he’s a really appealing guy,” Howard tells PEOPLE about making the film. “It explores a lot of his commercial work, which is kind of sexy and playful… That’s what I expected the doc to first and foremost be when I went into it. I didn’t realize it would be this really inspiring journey of an artist.”
Richard Avedon.Credit: Bruce Weber/Courtesy of Netflix
Howard admits that, before learning more about Avedon, he had misjudged the photographer’s depth and artistic commitment.
“I’m afraid, like a lot of people, I didn’t necessarily think of him as this kind of deep well that he was and this committed artist,” he says. “So I think that’s one of the surprises is his own kind of personal vulnerability, but also the risks he took creatively to try to not only give us all this great glamor and fashion, spectacle and beauty, but also these other harder truths to try to perceive and understand … One made him wealthy and famous and the other often earned him a lot of criticism, but he just kept going.”
Howard, beloved for his acting roles in television sitcoms like Happy Days and his work directing award-winning films, says his interest in documentary filmmaking grew out of a lifelong curiosity about people and the world around him.
“I’ve always been curious because I grew up on television, I’ve always been around movie sets, and even if you’re playing Little Opie on The Andy Griffith Show, there are certain scenes where you have to figure out ‘Why would a kid do this?’ ” he says.
He continues, “You develop a kind of broader understanding of the world, and as I ventured out and played a wider variety of roles, that demand was made over and over again. That’s what actors have to do. I carried that over into directing, but I also developed it about the world in general.”
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Ron Howard.Credit: Dan Prakopcyk
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That curiosity, Howard says, extends well beyond his work in Hollywood.
“If I’m out with people at dinner and I don’t know them, I wanna get to the bottom of what makes them tick,” he says. “At one time in my life in high school, I was co-editor of the paper, loved it. And I thought, you know, if I don’t transition into an adult career, I think I’ll either be a basketball coach and history teacher or maybe a journalist, because my curiosity pushed me in that direction.”
His interest in telling real-life stories eventually found another outlet through filmmaking. Howard points to Apollo 13, his 1995 drama based on the real-life NASA mission, as an important turning point. “I was a little anxious about it, I thought it might diminish my creative engagement, but I found that in a lot of ways it was freeing and exciting, and I was learning a hell of a lot,” he says.
Richard Avedon.Credit: Susan Middleton/courtesy netflix
He adds, “So over the years, I really loved doing the scripted movies about real events, and then this transition about 12 years ago into docs where fact sharing is your promise to the audience is really satisfying to me.”
That commitment to exploring real people and their experiences ultimately brought Howard to Avedon, whose work, he says, reflected a deep fascination with humanity.
“I think he was empathetic, I think he was fascinated by people and he himself felt some vulnerability,” Howard says. “Yet he overcame them and really learned to embrace the world … but I don’t think he ever lost sight of the fact that, with photography, you can make things look glossy and wonderful, but underneath it, we’re all human.”
Avedon is now streaming on Netflix.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
