As the daughter of American filmmaker Ron Howard and fellow actress Cheryl Howard, Bryce Dallas Howard has followed in her parents’ footsteps with a career in the film industry. She is a woman of many talents; not only can she act, but she can also direct. Howard has starred in many award-nominated films and television series such as Black Mirror, The Help, Spider-Man 3, and most recently, Jurassic World Dominion.
Despite Dads, a documentary film about fatherhood, being her first feature directorial debut, she has previously directed other projects. Some of those projects include a television film called Call Me Crazy: A Five Film, two episodes of The Mandalorian, and The Book of Boba Fett’s“Chapter 5: Return of the Mandalorian” episode.
Black Mirror: Nosedive (2016)
Bryce Dallas Howard plays the leading role of Lacie Pound. Her world has been dominated by technology where people share their day-to-day activities through their mobile devices. Their interactions are usually rated by other users on a scale of one to five stars, with the rating defining someone’s socioeconomic status.
Nosedive inspired the CEO of Instagram to experiment with the social media platform by hiding the ‘likes’ feature on Instagram as he recognized its possible negative aspects on users. The episode was nominated for a BAFTA Television Craft Award, Art Directors Guild Award, NAACP Image Award, and a Primetime Emmy Award. Howard also received a Screen Actors Guild Awards nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie to Miniseries.
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
Spider-Man 3 was the last of Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. Bryce Dallas Howard plays the role of Gwen Stacy, Peter’s lab partner. In the film, Peter (Tobey Maguire) asks Gwen out to embarrass his love interest Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst), while being possessed by the symbiote. Howard mentions that in preparing to play the role of Gwen Stacy, she read not just comics, but also “almost like thesis papers” since her character was created in the late 60s and early 70s.
She found it a little tricky as Gwen was known as Peter Parker’s first love in the comics, but the case was different in Raimi’s franchise. Howard says she wanted to be sure that she “wasn’t acting like some kind of man-stealing tart.” Howard also did many of her stunts for the film but was unaware that she had already been a few months pregnant at the time. Spider-Man 3 is currently the fifth highest-grossing film ever released by Sony Pictures.
The Help (2011)
Viola Davis plays the character of Aibileen Clark, the maid of a socialite Elizabeth Leefolt (Ahna O’Reilly) while her best friend, Minerva “Minny” Jackson (Octavia Spencer), is the maid to Mrs.Walters (Sissy Spacek) and her daughter, Hillary “Hilly” Walters Holbrook (Bryce Dallas Howard). All the White characters in the film are racist, except an aspiring journalist, Eugenia “Skeeter” Phelan (Emma Stone). Phelan’s discomfort with racism in her town inspires her to write a book from the point of view of Black maids who experience daily racism from the White families they work for.
In an interview with The Guardian, Howard expresses her struggle in playing a racist character in The Help. Howard “had this feeling of churning, churning. I thought, ‘What is happening to me? There’s a disruption in my soul right now.” She adds that she is now “cautious about the bodies and spirits” she inhabits (referring to the characters she chooses to play). The Help received many wins and nominations from Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, and Screen Actors Guild Awards.
50/50 (2011)
Written by Will Reiser, 50/50 is based on the real-life experiences of Reiser’s personal experience with battling cancer. His character in the film, Adam Lerner, is played by Joseph-Gordon Levitt. Lerner’s best friend Kyle Hirons (Seth Rogen) is also based on Rogen’s real-life character.
Bryce Dallas Howard plays the character of Rachael, the artist girlfriend of Adam, whom Kyle disapproves of. Kyle was right about his instincts as he witnessed Rachael kissing another man at a gallery. He forces her to confess her infidelity to Adam, and this leads to their break-up. 50/50 was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards: Best Picture (Musical or Comedy) and Best Actor (Musical or Comedy) for Gordon-Levitt.
Manderlay (2005)
Manderlay is an avant-garde film written and directed by Lars von Trier. The film is the second part of his USA – Land of Opportunities trilogy, and the previous (and first) film is Dogville, with Nicole Kidman as the leading role of Grace Mulligan (replaced with Bryce Dallas Howard in Manderlay). In 1933, Grace Margaret Mulligan (Bryce Dallas Howard) and her father (Willem Dafoe) stumbled upon a plantation in Alabama called Manderlay, where slavery persists. Grace feels it is her duty to join the people of Manderlay in their fight for freedom.
Besides Bryce Dallas Howard and Willem Dafoe, the film also stars Danny Glover and Lauren Bacall. Despite an impressive cast and a production budget of $14.2 million, the film did not perform well and only grossed approximately $675,000 and was considered a box office flop.
The Village (2004)
Howard plays the leading role of a blind girl, Ivy Elizabeth Walker, in M. Night Shyamalan’s period thriller film, The Village. The film follows the story of a village that lives in fear of the creatures living within the woods bordering the village. The villagers refer to the humanoid creatures as “Those We Don’t Speak Of.” Howard stars alongside Joaquin Phoenix, Adrien Brody, and William Hurt.
With a $60 million production budget, The Village became a commercial success. The film was nominated for various awards including an Academy Award for Best Original Score and Teen Choice Awards for Choice Movie: Thriller. Howard herself was nominated for accolades such as Empire Awards, MTV Movie Awards, Online Film Critics Society Awards, and Teen Choice Awards.
Gold (2016)
The crime-drama film follows the true story of the 1993 Bre-X mining scandal where a supposed colossal gold deposit was discovered in the Indonesian jungles. Matthew McConaughey played the leading role of Bre-X CEO Kenny Wells (based on David Walsh) and Édgar Ramírez as the geologist Michael Acosta (based on Michael de Guzman). Bryce Dallas Howard portrays the role of Kay, Wells’ girlfriend.
Many have regarded the Bre-X case as the largest gold scandal in mining history. However, the stranger-than-fiction storyGoldhas to offer did not do well at the box office. The film received nominations for the Golden Globe Awards and Saturn Awards, including one for Bryce Dallas Howard in the category of Best Supporting Actress. It won an award for the category of Hollywood Ensemble Award from the Hollywood Film Awards.
Terminator Salvation (2009)
Terminator Salvation is the fourth film of the Terminator franchise. It is also the only film to not feature Arnold Schwarzenegger and instead focuses the story on John Connor (Christian Bale), the son of Sarah Connor. Howard plays Kate Connor, a physician, the wife of John Connor, and the daughter of Robert Brewster.
The film grossed approximately $371 million, almost double the production budget of $200 million. Terminator Salvation was nominated for Teen Choice Awards, including one for Howard in the category of Choice Movie Actress: Action Adventure, and from other accolades, including Scream Awards and Saturn Awards.
Dads (2019)
Dads is a documentary film and the feature film directorial debut of Bryce Dallas Howard. It features Howard’s father, film director Ron Howard, and other celebrity fathers such as Will Smith, Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel, Neil Patrick Harris, Ken Jeong, and other everyday men on what fatherhood means to them.
While its primary subject is fatherhood, the documentary discusses the preconceived notions of what it means to be a father. The film was the second runner-up for the People’s Choice Award for Documentaries.
Rocketman (2019)
Rocketman is a biopic film that follows the life of legendary British musician Elton John. Taron Egerton plays the role of Elton John, and his mother, Sheila Eileen, is played by Bryce Dallas Howard.
The film takes its focus from John, but Howard’s turn as his problematic mother shows her again stepping into another uncomfortable role. Their complicated relationship plays a huge role in John’s life throughout the film, even after he no longer lives with her.
