Ron Howard recalls Tom Hanks going 'pants-less' in front of Mona Lisa
Ron Howard has admitted the moment will forever be ingrained in his memory.
Ron Howard has recalled how Tom Hanks was briefly forced to go "pants-less" in front of the Mona Lisa while filming The Da Vinci Code.
During a Happy Days reunion event held at MegaCon in Orlando, Florida over the weekend, the actor-director recounted to fans how the Hollywood icon ended up with no trousers on in front of Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France while they were filming the 2006 mystery thriller.
"All of our grip equipment and camera equipment was in the Mona Lisa room. And at one point, we were really hurrying, we were behind schedule," he told the audience, according to People. "And Tom Hanks didn't have time to go back to his dressing room to change for the next scene. And so, I was giving him some notes about what the next scene was going to be, and he was changing his pants in front of the Mona Lisa."
Ron went on to describe how the moment is forever ingrained in his memory.
"I said, 'Wait a minute. This is a moment we have to remember.' We've been under the water with the mermaid, we've been weightless with Apollo 13, and now you're pants-less with the Mona Lisa," the 70-year-old smiled.
Over the course of their careers, Ron has directed Tom in five projects, including 1984's Splash, 1995's Apollo 13, and three of the movies in The Da Vinci Code franchise: The Da Vinci Code, 2009's Angels & Demons, and 2006's Inferno.
Previously, Tom recounted the incident in an interview for The New York Times in 2022.
"It was my 40th-something birthday. We were shooting in the Louvre at night. I changed my pants in front of the Mona Lisa!" he remembered. "They brought me a birthday cake in the Grand Salon! Who gets to have that experience? Any cynicism there? Hell no!"