Who knew the same actor who played Opie and Richie Cunningham was a racing fan? Ron Howard, who played little cherub-like Opie on The Andy Griffith Show more than 60 years ago, then starred in “Happy Days,” went on to become one of America’s great directors and producers.
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But few knew that deep down inside, Howard loved all forms of motorsports. He went on to direct movies like “Rush” — which is about the 1976 Formula 1 battle between James Hunt and Nikki Lauda — and is hoping his new documentary on NASCAR icon Dale Earnhardt and his son Dale Jr., simply titled “Earnhardt”, will resonate with fans and moviegoers everywhere.
“It’s still the relationships and the challenges that each generation had to overcome and deal with and cope with are they’re rich, they’re relatable and they mean a lot,” Howard said on this week’s edition of The Dale Jr. Download.
“It just so ticked all those boxes of really potentially great storytelling and people who don’t know anything about NASCAR, or much about it and never thought too much about it, are going to be drawn into it and understand it in a lot more visceral emotional way. And so for them, it’s going to be a real surprise.
“If you go into it because you love the sport, we wanted to deliver on that. If you go into it because it’s a famous name and you hear it’s good and it seems to be about a family, then we want to deliver on that as well and this series certainly does.
“But you also then want to say, ‘Wow, you had no idea what NASCAR was about, did you? Wow, well look here.’”
Howard was executive producer of “Earnhardt,” a four-part documentary series that examines The Intimidator’s rise to racing fame, how he became such a feared competitor, his complicated family and marriage dynamics — including his relationship with Dale Jr. — and, sadly, Earnhardt’s death on the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.
What makes this series stand out from other previous Earnhardt-related movies and documentaries is it focuses much more on the personal dynamics of Earnhardt, his loves, his family, and his inner personality, something that other documentaries seemed to only gloss over.
“I love history, I love documentaries and I like movies based on real events,” Howard said. “(We) just believed in the facts. All we have to do is show it and the drama will be there. I followed that mantra and went into it still wondering how audiences would respond.
“These stories are liberating because you choose stories that are out of the ordinary, you choose events where human beings have together or separately somehow achieved something remarkable or experienced something in a really intense way and you want to expand people’s understanding of the human experience.”
The series is currently airing on Prime Video.
