More than three decades after the release of ‘The Paper,’ Ron Howard recalled the fight scene with Glenn Close that left Michael Keaton asking for a private word. The director also explained how Close’s character began as a male role before the script was rewr
Ron Howard can still picture the moment it stopped being just another shoot day and turned into something more urgent.
More than three decades after ‘The Paper’ was released, the director is looking back on a fight sequence he filmed with Michael Keaton and Glenn Close—one that prompted Keaton to pull Howard aside for a private, one-on-one chat.
The scene itself is at the center of the 1994 newsroom comedy’s chaos. In the frantic 24-hour span set inside a NYC office. Hackett and Clark clash in a heated verbal confrontation that escalates into a full-blown physical altercation. Keaton plays Henry Hackett, the metro editor of the tabloid. Close plays Alicia Clark, Hackett’s nemesis and the managing editor.
Howard said the sequence was especially difficult for Keaton to shoot, largely because of Close’s approach and dedication to getting it right. After a few takes, Keaton was exhausted enough to ask for a private conversation with Howard.
Howard recounted what Keaton told him during that chat: “He said, ‘Ron, if you can, hold down the number of takes because Glenn is going full throttle. And let me tell you, she’s seriously strong!’”
Keaton had already described the energy around the scene in his own earlier reflections. In a 1994 interview shared on YouTube by Take2MarkTV. Keaton said Close “was a strong contender. ” adding that she “actually really liked doing that fight scene.” He remembered that she used “very few pads. ” and that he. by contrast. was not as eager to go all-in physically—he recalled saying. “Not me. man.”.
Keaton went on to explain that, during filming, he had knee pads and shin guards, and that the director eventually padded Close up. He described Close as excited to fight him while he felt “nervous.”
When Howard spoke to The Hollywood Reporter in a May interview. he also connected the on-screen tension to how Close’s role came to be in the first place. The director said Close’s Alicia Clark was originally written as a male character. Howard then asked screenwriters David and Stephen Koepp to rewrite it and change the gender.
Howard explained that the script change kept the character’s core vibe intact: “Glenn’s part was written as a male character, but David and Stephen loved my idea of casting Glenn without changing a single attitude, behavior or line,” Howard said.
In the end, what readers can feel in that scene—verbal heat snapping into physical force—matches how Howard describes the moment behind it: Keaton asking for fewer takes because Close was going full throttle, and a casting choice that kept her intensity exactly where it belonged.
Ron Howard Glenn Close Michael Keaton The Paper 1994 newsroom comedy Alicia Clark Henry Hackett fight scene behind the scenes