Sunday, July 5, 2026

“Cocoon” Director Ron Howard Remembers Actor Wilford Brimley: “He asked me to throw out the script & let him improvise”

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Ron Howard’s 1985 film “Cocoon” is among his best and the very best of all films of the 20th century.

>When star Wilford Brimley died yesterday at age 85, Howard chimed in on Twitter with a reminiscence:

“RIP #WilfordBrimley We didn’t always see eye 2 eye but I owe this Cocoon scene to Wilford  while fishing w/the boy. I agreed & shot a few 3-camera set-ups & he was brilliant & honest youtu.be/7YBDiWnX5ig via

Howard, who gets along with everyone, that news was a bit of  a surprise. A Twitter responded and asked what exactly he meant. Howard replied:
“Wilford said the script was good but the scene could be better. He was right. He was a very inventive and thoughtful actor. His influence on the movie was wonderful”

Here’s the famous scene again. It made Brimley’s career:

 

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Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman
Roger Friedman is the founder and editor-in-chief of Showbiz411. He wrote the FOX411 column on FoxNews.com from 1999 to 2009, where he covered Michael Jackson, and previously wrote the "Intelligencer" column at New York magazine in the mid-1990s, where he covered the O.J. Simpson trial. He also edited Fame magazine. His bylines have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the New York Daily News, the New York Post, Vogue, Details, and the Miami Herald. He is a voting member of the Critics Choice Awards (Film and Television branches), and his movie reviews are tracked by Rotten Tomatoes. With D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, he co-produced the 2002 documentary "Only the Strong Survive," which screened at Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

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