E-mail a friendJanuary 7, 2009
Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard, director of one of this year's most acclaimed films, Frost/Nixon, explains why he feels the former president was a Shakespearean figure. Nixon's portrayer in the film—three-time Tony winner Frank Langella—describes the "relatively rough" early days of filming.
Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Frost/Nixon director describes having the task of letting his dad know that he had been cut from the film. (1:17)
Full interview. (22:50)
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Ron Howard is celebrating his 50th anniversary in the business. His impressive credits include Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind and, his latest, Frost/Nixon. He's also directed 6 different actors in Oscar-nominated performances. Born into an acting family, Howard was a vet at age 6. He starred on TV in The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days and in the feature American Graffiti. Moving behind the camera, Howard co-founded Imagine Entertainment and also creates online films.
Frank Langella
Frank Langella
Award-winning actor reveals what he learned of Nixon's formative years that informed his portrayal of the former president. (2:03)
Full interview. (22:50)
Frank Langella has been called one of the American theater world's greatest living actors. He's also gained recognition as a film star, with credits that include Good Night and Good Luck and Frost/Nixon—in which he reprised his Tony-winning role as Richard Nixon. The New Jersey native studied acting at Syracuse University before starting his career in New York and made his film debut in Diary of a Mad Housewife. Langella, a Theatre Hall of Fame inductee, recently starred in the Broadway revival of A Man for All Seasons.