Ron Howard Says Tom Hanks Had to Take Off His Pants in Front of the“ Mona Lisa” While Filming “The Da Vinci Code”

The veteran filmmaker offered a behind-the-scenes anecdote of the filming of the 2006 movie

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Ron Howard and Tom Hanks

While the 2006 film The Da Vinci Code was a suspenseful mystery, the making of the movie was, at times, more like a comedy.

At a Happy Days reunion event held at MegaCon in Orlando on Friday, Feb. 7, director Ron Howard offered an anecdote about the behind-the-scenes of the film and how star Tom Hanks wound up with no pants on in front of the world’s most revered work of art.

“All of our grip equipment and camera equipment was in the Mona Lisa room,” Howard, 70, said of the on-location production at the Louvre in Paris. “And at one point, we were really hurrying, we were behind schedule.”

He continued: “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.”

“I said, ‘Wait a minute. This is a moment we have to remember,’ ” Howard said, noting that many of his films with Hanks — including Splash and Apollo 13 — have taken the actor to strange places. “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.”

Photo by Harald Sund/The Image Bank Collection/Getty Images I.M.Pei-designed Louvres Pyramid, Paris, France
Elsewhere in the panel — which was also attended by Howard’s Happy Days castmates Anson Williams and Don Most — Howard spoke about how he initially entered Hollywood as a child actor but quickly realized he was more attracted to the role of the director.

“I always liked acting. I always liked being around it,” he said. “But very, very early on, I was attracted to the role of the director. And years later, I recognized that I don’t have the performer’s personality. I wasn’t hungry to perform … I was just dying to be behind the camera.”

Howard has directed Hanks in five films, including three from The Da Vinci Code series: Splash, The Da Vinci Code, Apollo 13, Angels & Demons and Inferno.

In a 2024 interview with PEOPLE, the director said he doesn’t often reflect on his own portfolio — and hasn’t seen one of his most beloved films in some time.

“Frankly, I don’t go back and watch my movies, so it’s been a long time since I’ve seen [Splash],” Howard said when asked about scenes from the 40-year-old film he feels are underrated.