Bryce Dallas Howard
Bryce Dallas Howard
Bryce Dallas Howardis an American actress, filmmaker, and writer. She made her acting debut as an extra in her father Ron Howard's film Parenthoodand went on to have small roles in films and make stage appearances for the next several years. During this time, Howard also attended New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, later receiving a BFA and moving on to professional drama schools. After she came to the attention of M. Night Shyamalan, he cast her in...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth2 March 1981
CityLos Angeles, CA
CountryUnited States of America
It's not that I'm a serious person; I'm playful and stuff like that, but I take characters very seriously and the work very seriously.
Sometimes people are like, 'Do you want to play strong women?' I don't have to play strong women in order to feel like a strong woman myself, but I do feel it's important to play characters that are complex and interesting and believable.
I come from a little bit of a theatrical background. I started that way. I don't have a tremendous body of work or anything, but I went to drama school. And so, to get to do a piece where the characters get to talk a lot, and that isn't just about the spectacle or the set piece, or is simply visual or movement based. It was really wonderful for me, and juicy and exciting.
It's just that the characters are speaking their mind. As opposed to it just being an expression, they're actually saying what's on their mind, and that's something that Tennessee Williams is really famous for. Shakespeare does that and Tennessee Williams does that. You crave that, when you're an actor, for sure.
It was such a paradox for me that the only thing I know how to do is act, but that the first thing I abandoned while writing were the characters
When I was seven, I was allowed to be an extra in 'Parenthood,' which was amazing. But then I kind of got addicted to it, and my parents didn't want me to want to act. They felt that would be putting your kid in an adult world.
Using the word 'bossy' for girls can be quite harmful. What is that saying - that being focused, being assertive, being the boss has a negative attribute? And I have heard that term associated more with women than with men. 'He's so bossy' - you don't hear that. It's a very subtle thing.
There's a lot of wisdom that my dad and my grandparents and my uncle have been able to impart on me, and what I've treasured the most is I've seen examples in my life of people embracing their creativity, not feeling insecure about their artistic inclinations.
My sister can walk down the street and just know what's going on with people. She'll say, 'Oh, they're going through a divorce' or, 'Their kid just went off to college' or, 'He just got a great job.'
My parents would never throw the kids in first class for the flights; they'd be up front, and we'd be economy - we knew we were lucky just to be travelling.
My parents taught me many of the things that people need in life to feel confident: practical things, such as managing finances, mucking out the goat barn, cleaning a house, doing repairs, mending a broken roof or a toilet.
My mum told me, 'At that moment when you know you can't do both, the marriage and the kids, choose the marriage because you're going to be spending your whole lives together, so you have to put a lot of work and attention into the relationship.'
My mom always told me one of the reasons that she was really happy in her life was that, if Dad never worked again, she was confident that she could support the family.
Joss Whedon is a hero of mine, and what he's done for women in film and television, particularly when it comes to writing female roles that would typically go to a man, is awesome.