Ron Howard tears up on Dads doco
Director shows his soft side on tribute to fatherhood.
Asking famous people questions about their children can be tricky. While some are more than happy to chat about their offspring, others don’t like talking about their personal lives.
However, on a new Apple TV+ documentary, simply titled Dads, celebrity fathers such as film star Will Smith, talk-show host Jimmy Fallon, actor Neil Patrick Harris and movie producer Judd Apatow open up about parenting.
There are anecdotes about caring for newborn babies, the challenges of dealing with teenagers, and the joys of savouring precious family time.
But just how easy was it to persuade these celebrity fathers to open up?
‘‘Not as difficult as you might think,’’ says actress and Dads director Bryce Dallas Howard.
‘‘A lot of dads are softies when it comes to their kids.
We started joking around with one another during post production, saying we should call this movie Dads Cry.’’
Bryce, who has two children with her actor husband Seth Gable, may be recognisable from films such as The Help, Jurassic World and Pete’s Dragon.
She is also the daughter of former
Happy Days actor Ron Howard, who is now a Hollywood film director with a CV that includes blockbusters Apollo 13, The
Da Vinci Code and Splash.
On Dads, a misty-eyed Ron, 66, who has four children in total, talks about his family and the pressure he put on himself to be as good a father as his own dad.
‘‘Him getting emotional was really moving for me,’’ says Bryce of her father.
‘‘He’s super sweet but he’s quiet and emoting in that way that is a big deal. He said to me afterwards, ‘I’ve never cried for real on camera’.’’
Dads also showcases old home movies of the Howards when Bryce was a little girl and Ron had a moustache.
In the present day, there is an interview with Ron’s son Reed (Bryce’s younger brother) who is gearing up for the arrival of his first child.
Other fathers profiled in Dads include a Japanese stay-at-home dad, two American gay dads who have four adopted children, and a Brazilian dad who grew up without his biological father.
Bryce directed the celebrity fathers but wasn’t there for the filming of some of the lesser-known dads and their families.
‘‘I didn’t go there physically,’’ she says.
‘‘It’s kind of an obnoxious reason. It’s because Jurassic World had just come out and there was a real concern that the kids [would] potentially recognise me and then not be able to be themselves – you know, asking questions about dinosaurs and such. It was so important that these families were depicted in a way where they were not selfaware or trying to perform.’’
Just like the celebrity dads, these fathers discuss the trials and tribulations of parenting and how it has changed them for the better.
After watching men share their parenting experiences, what does Bryce think children want from their fathers?
‘‘Being there and being there in a way that feels memorable,’’ she says.
‘‘Not necessarily memorable like, ‘oh my gosh, it’s a party and it’s an amazing thing and [Dad] is doing cartwheels’ and all of that. But just that there’s a connection . . .
‘‘I know that’s the case in my household. My kids just want Seth and I to be there physically with them as much as possible.
‘‘That’s what they crave and I know that’s what I crave of my parents still to this day, age 39.’’
As a child, Bryce remembers being on film sets with her father and recalls coming to New Zealand for the first time at the age of 5 when her father was directing the fantasy film, Willow.
She has returned to our shores multiple times, including to film her role on Pete’s Dragon, and for a tourism campaign to encourage Americans to travel to New Zealand.
Her most recent visit was in March when she was on holiday with her husband for her birthday.
‘‘We went to Waiheke Island, which was beautiful – and Auckland,’’ Bryce says.
‘‘We just drove around so much. We went to Hawke’s Bay, it was perfect. It
was the end of summer.’’
Dads, streams on AppleTV+.