Ron Howard seeks justice for Opie and Richie. As a child, the film mogul was best known for his role as Opie Taylor in the CBS sitcom The Andy Griffith Show, playing the son of Andy Griffith’s main character for eight seasons,

The Oscar-winning filmmaker, who played a heightened version of himself in the comedy, called the nomination “an absolute cherry on top,” and added, “the whole experience in doing The Studio was such a blast. Evan [ Goldberg] and Seth [ Rogen] have that set completely wired for creativity and laughs, and I'm a huge fan of the show.”

Being recognized for acting "never even crossed my mind because it was so beyond the realm of feasibility," Howard tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview after learning of his Emmy nomination