Why ‘Supportive’ Ron Howard Is Like a ‘Second Father’ toEdenStar Daniel Brühl (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Ron Howard (left) on May 18; Daniel Brühl (right) on April 07.Photo:Doug Peters/PA Images via Getty; Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty

Doug Peters/PA Images via Getty; Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty

Ron Howardlives up to his reputation as one of the nicest guys in Hollywood, according toDaniel Brühl.

The actor, 46, worked with director Howard, 70, on the 2013 filmRushand the new survival dramaEden, the true story of three groups of settlers who travel from Europe to live on the remote island of Floreana in the Galápagos during the Great Depression.

At the Sept. 7 premiere of the film at theToronto International Film Festival(TIFF), Brühl told PEOPLE the Oscar winner is “the best.”

“He’s so supportive. To me, he’s not only a director in the classical sense, but he’s also a mentor. He’s a second father,” added theInglourious Basterdsstar, who’s attached to direct the upcoming movieBreakabout German tennis star Gottfried von Cramm.

“Now that I also want to go into directing, he was always open also to answer any questions that I had concerning directing movies,” Brühl said. “I was thankful for every piece of information because this man has been around for so long, he hasn’t lost an inch of his energy and curiosity.”

“If I’m still around, when I reach his age, I want to have 20 percent of his energy,” he continued.

The two men have kept in touch since working onRushmore than a decade ago. In fact, they talked about makingEdennot long after they finished making the Formula 1 racing film.

Howard, who visited the Galápagos Islands on a family vacation years prior, learned of the true story while visiting a museum there and was inspired to turn it into a movie.

“The thing that I remembered most was this amazing set of characters who had gone off the grid and were trying to redefine themselves,” he told PEOPLE at TIFF. “And they had these crazy events unfold. And that’s what I remembered, and I started reading about it and I started researching it. I literally was typing out an outline on my Blackberry. So that will tell you how long ago that was.”

In the years since, he made other movies likeSolo: A Star Wars StoryandHillbilly Elegy, but he couldn’t get the Floreana settlers — who feuded with deadly results — out of his head.

KC Armstrong/Deadline via Getty

“There was just something about these characters and this circumstance that just fascinated me,” he continued.

“It was full of surprises, and as time went on, it just felt, in a way, more and more relevant — the dynamics of these characters. And I also thought it would be great acting opportunities," added Howard. “’m always looking for something to direct that can really challenge actors and give them something exciting to do.”

source: people.com