Ron Howard’s Surprising Experience on the Set of Apollo 13

Ron Howard.
Credit: Jesse Grant/Getty

Key Details

• Director Ron Howard experienced an unintended high during the filming of the 1995 film Apollo 13.
• The incident occurred after he ingested medication intended for use in zero-gravity environments.
• A scheduled zero-gravity flight was canceled, leading to unexpected effects from the medication.

Director Ron Howard revealed he accidentally got high while filming the Hollywood classic Apollo 13 in 1995. The revelation, revisited by Far Out Magazine, described how Howard and his crew utilized a zero-gravity film plane to capture realistic space scenes for the movie, which recounts NASA’s aborted lunar mission in 1970.

In a 2013 interview with BAFTA, the now 71-year-old director explained, “We ended up using this zero-G airplane that does parabolas in order to recreate weightlessness and conduct scientific testing and training of astronauts.” This involved 13 days of filming in the aircraft.

Howard noted that the crew took a medication cocktail called Scopedex, which combines half scopolamine and half Dexedrine. He explained, “Scopolamine evens out your stomach but wants to put you to sleep, and the Dexedrine keeps you working.” On the day of the incident, an engine failure thwarted their planned flight, leading Howard to consume the medication without the intended zero-gravity context.

When crew members noticed Howard’s behavior as he became hyperactive, he noted, “Everybody was laughing their heads off at me… apparently, I was running around saying, ‘Okay, so we can’t, but you can bring a camera over here… it’s okay, you can light it – Tom, come on!’” Howard recalled his colleagues’ shocked reactions, describing their disbelief at his antics while under the drug’s influence.

Apollo 13 eventually garnered nine Academy Award nominations, solidifying its status as a cinematic triumph.

Ron Howard on the set of Apollo 13.
Moviestore Collection Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

In a subsequent 2025 appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Howard disclosed an embarrassing incident during a physical exam for the film. He shared, “I’m in there getting my physical with Kevin Bacon… the whole procedure includes a treadmill, urine tests, and heart monitoring.” Howard, who suffers from vagovagal syncope, explained how this condition increased his susceptibility to fainting.

He recalled feeling lightheaded during the blood test and that he had “never told this story” due to its sensitive nature. “It led to Ron blacks out and Ron makes wee wee because I hadn’t done the urine test yet,” he recounted, humorously detailing the unusual scenario. Upon regaining consciousness, Howard found Kevin Bacon looking down at him and jokingly negotiated for “ten extra closeups in this movie” in exchange for Bacon’s silence.