Ron Howard Recreates the Affectionate Tom Hanks SNL Impression of Him

Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard have worked together on movies several times, from 1984’s Splash (Hanks’s career-launching start) to the new installment in the Da Vinci Code series, an adaptation of author Dan Brown’s history-minded action-adventure Inferno. But just because they’re longtime buddies doesn’t mean they can’t poke fun at each other.

On Saturday, Hanks parodied the notoriously scruffy and folksy Howard in one of his SNL sketches while hosting the late night comedy show. So on Conan O’Brien’s show on Tuesday night, O’Brien gave Howard himself the chance to respond directly to the impression.

“He warned me. This is an impression that he occasionally does,” Howard explained on Conan. “But would you say he’s an impressionist? Is he any kind of real impressionist?” he then asked, his mannerisms in the delivery proving that Hanks is, indeed, a “real impressionist.”

“He nailed it,” Howard finally admitted, right down to Howard’s signature look (a black zip-up jacket and baseball hat). Apparently Hanks had a bit of a grudge to excise in the skit: on the last day of filming for the action-intensive Inferno, Howard made Hanks perform all kinds of dangerous stunts, leaving him a little peeved.

Late night host James Corden also gave Howard the chance to clap back at his leading actor, getting a Hanks impression out of him.