Ron Howard on ‘Genius’: ‘We Don’t Want This Show to Feel Like Homework’
Preview
For many, Albert Einstein means E=mc2, that shock hairdo and a crazy image of him sticking out his tongue. But National Geographic Channel, in conjunction with Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, is aiming to offer a more proper introduction to the game-changing physicist.
Culled from Walter Isaacson’s acclaimed book Einstein: His Life and Universe, the 10-episode series reveals Einstein as an impulsive youth and black sheep (Johnny Flynn) who blooms into a world-wise, but no less wonder-filled, scientific rock star (Geoffrey Rush, above). “We don’t want this show to feel like homework,” Howard says. “People will come away smarter, with a deeper understanding of the science, but, more importantly, of the man and the people around him.” And Einstein’s cheeky sense of humor is on ample display. “There’s as much Groucho Marx in him as there is scientist,” Rush says with a laugh.
Genius, Series Premiere, Tuesday, April 25, 9/8c, National Geographic Channel
