Ron Howard’s Biggest Regret: The Film He’d Rather Forget

Ron Howard’s career has spanned decades, from his early days as a child actor to becoming one of the most respected directors in the business. He’s managed to avoid the kind of drama and regret that often follows a long stint in Hollywood, keeping his reputation as a genuinely decent bloke. Still, even Howard isn’t immune to the odd misstep, and there’s one project he’d rather wipe from his CV.

Looking Back Without Rose-Tinted Glasses

Howard’s not one to sugarcoat things when it comes to his own work. He’s admitted before that some of his films haven’t quite hit the mark. Take The Dilemma, for example—he’s called it “tone-deaf” in hindsight. He also dodged a bullet by stepping away from directing The Dark Tower, though he still reckons producing it was a mistake, given how poorly it turned out. There are a couple of films he never got to make that still cross his mind, and he’s always wanted to work with Jack Nicholson, but those are just missed opportunities, not regrets.

The Hillbilly Elegy Dilemma

But then there’s Hillbilly Elegy. Among Howard’s body of work, this one stands out for all the wrong reasons. It’s widely seen as the low point of his directing career, and he’s copped plenty of questions about it ever since. The film, based on JD Vance’s memoir, dropped on Netflix in late 2020. Not long after, Vance—portrayed by Gabriel Basso in the film—announced his run for the US Senate, eventually winning the seat. Glenn Close’s performance in the film managed to snag both Oscar and Razzie nominations, which says a lot about how divisive the whole thing was.

Howard told The Financial Times,

“The journalists saw something coming I didn’t; JD running for Senate. If I’d realised that too, I wouldn’t have pursued the project. Because it was unavoidably going to be politicised. I did ask JD about running for office, and he didn’t seem interested.”

Turns out, Vance had already floated the idea of entering politics back in early 2018, well before Howard’s production company picked up the rights to his story and started filming in 2019. Whether Vance was being cagey or just changed his mind, Howard was left in the dark.

Unwanted Legacy

Even if the film hadn’t been about someone who’d go on to become a polarising figure, most punters reckon Hillbilly Elegy just wasn’t up to scratch. Howard can’t see into the future, and he can’t undo what’s been done, so unless he manages to top it with something even worse, this one’s likely to stick as his least favourite effort.