Bryce Dallas Howard (born March 2, 1981 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress and director. Howard's family has been dedicated to the entertainment business for a long time – her father is the acclaimed director and former actor Ron Howard, her uncle is actor Clint Howard and her grandfather is the late actor Rance Howard.
Though she had some experience as a stage actress and appearing in her father's films as an extra, most notably in A Beautiful Mind, where she is a student that watches how professor John Nash (Russell Crowe) is taken to a car, she gained recognition when M. Night Shyamalan gave her the lead role as the blind Ivy Walker in The Village. She became some sort of muse for Shyamalan, also appearing in his next film Lady in the Water portraying the water nymph Story.
Since then she has alternated between smaller and big-budget films. Most notably as the blonde Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3, the racist southerner Alpha Bitch from The '60s Hilly Holbrook in The Help and as High-Powered Career Woman turned dinosaur-saving adventurer Claire Dearing in the Jurassic Park revival era films Jurassic World, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Jurassic World Dominion. She also directed episodes of some Disney+ Star Wars series, namely The Mandalorian Chapters 4, 11, and 22, and The Book of Boba Fett Chapter 5.
You might also mistake her for The Help co-star Jessica Chastain. But don't worry, both actresses (and a video
) have sorted out that Bryce is absolutely not "Jessica Chastaiiiiin".
She is married to actor Seth Gabel and they have two children.
Notable Roles
- 1989 - Parenthood as Redheaded Audience Girl
- 1995 - Apollo 13 as Girl in Yellow Dress
- 2000 - How the Grinch Stole Christmas! as Surprised Who
- 2001 - A Beautiful Mind as Harvard Student
- 2004 - The Village as Ivy Walker
- 2005 - Manderlay as Grace
- 2006 - Lady in the Water as Story
- 2006 - As You Like It as Rosalind
- 2007 - Spider-Man 3 as Gwen Stacy
- 2008 - Good Dick as Kissing Woman
- 2009 - Terminator Salvation as Kate Connor
- 2010 - The Twilight Saga: Eclipse as Victoria
- 2010 - Hereafter as Melanie
- 2011 - The Help as Hilly Holbrook
- 2011 - Fifty Fifty as Rachael
- Jurassic Park as Claire Dearing
- 2015 - Jurassic World
- 2018 - Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom
- 2021 - VelociCoaster
- 2022 - Jurassic World Dominion
- 2015 - LEGO Dimensions as Claire Dearing
- 2016 - Pete's Dragon as Grace Meacham
- 2016 - Gold (2016) as Kay
- 2016 - Black Mirror: Nosedive as Lacie
- 2019 - Rocketman as Shelia Eileen Dwight
- 2022 - Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi as Yaddle
Tropes
- Dyeing for Your Art: She's changed her hair color a few times, such as being a blonde in Spider-Man. And in the "inhuman effort" front, Jurassic World forced Howard to learn how to run in high-heels. For Black Mirror: Nosedive, she gained 30 pounds (13.6 kg) instead of wearing a fat suit or padding.
- Evil Redhead: Her villainous roles like the vampire mistress Victoria and the bigot Hilly Holbrook.
- Fiery Redhead: Especially Claire Dearing from Jurassic World and Ivy Walker from The Village. Bring up something she doesn't like or dare to touch a beloved one, and she will slap you or throw a thousand tranquilizers at you.Claire: (to Owen) Excuse me! I never wanted a second date!
- Heroes Want Redheads: If she's The Hero's Love Interest.
- The Other Darrin: She has become somewhat notorious for taking over roles once played by other actresses in the same franchise — Terminator Salvation (for Claire Danes' Kate Brewster), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (for Rachelle Lefevre's Victoria) and even in Lars von Trier's Manderlay (replacing Nicole Kidman's Grace Mulligan).
