Bryce Dallas Howard
Encyclopedia
Bryce Dallas Howard is an American film actress and daughter of director Ron Howard
. She made her acting debut in her father's 1989 movie Parenthood and went on to have small roles in films and make stage appearances for the next several years. During this time she also attended New York University
's (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts
, later getting a BFA
, and went to drama schools. After gaining the attention of M. Night Shyamalan
, he cast her in what would be her breakout film, The Village
(2004), and 2006's Lady in the Water
, which was a commercial and critical failure. Her performance in As You Like It
(2006) earned her a Golden Globe Award
nomination in 2008.
Howard became more recognizable to audiences as Gwen Stacy
in 2007's Spider-Man 3
and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), playing Victoria, a villainous vampire
seeking revenge. Those two projects, as well as the 2009 Terminator Salvation
release, are among her most financially successful movies, but all three garnered mixed reviews from the press. Aside from acting, Howard will serve as a co-producer along with her father to Gus Van Sant
's coming of age feature Restless
, and will make her directorial debut with The Original.
She has been married to fellow actor Seth Gabel
since 2006. They have one child together, a son nicknamed Theo, who was born in early 2007. The couple currently resides in Los Angeles
.
the source of her middle nameHoward was born in Los Angeles, California
, the daughter of Cheryl (née
Alley), a writer, and Hollywood
actor-director
Ron Howard
, on March 2, 1981. Her paternal grandparents are actors Rance Howard
and the late Jean Speegle Howard
; her uncle is actor Clint Howard
; and her godfather is actor Henry Winkler
, who co-starred on Happy Days
with her father. Howard and her younger sisters, twins Jocelyn Carlyle Howard and Paige Carlyle Howard (born 1985), and their younger brother, Reed Cross Howard (born 1987), were named after the places they were conceived. All of the Howard children were raised away from the world of show business. Their parents did not allow them access to television and instead encouraged outdoor activities and hobbies. At the age of 7, however, she was allowed to be an extra
in her father's movies. In an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
, Howard mentioned that she and her siblings were babysat by family friend Tom Cruise
on several occasions. She was raised in Westchester
, New York
and on a farm in Greenwich, Connecticut
.
Howard attended Stagedoor Manor
, a performing arts camp in upstate New York, with actress Natalie Portman
. After graduating from high school, she studied at New York University
's (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts
for three years, during which time she also attended the Stella Adler
Conservatory, The Experimental Wing, and International Theatre Wing in Amsterdam
. During her schooling, she took part in the concept recording of the Broadway-bound musical A Tale of Two Cities
. She graduated with her BFA
in Drama
in 2003. Howard is also an alumna of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company
's School at Steppenwolf in Chicago, and of The Actors Center
in New York City. During her time in New York, Howard was also a member of downtown
theater company Theater Mitu
, in residence at New York Theatre Workshop
, who are known for their exploration of theatrical forms. When she had applied to drama schools she dropped her last name to avoid special treatment because of her father. She later had second thoughts because her first and middle name combined made her sound like a porn star.
(1995) and the 2000 holiday live action
Universal Studios
production How the Grinch Stole Christmas. While on her dad's film sets, she would often socialize with the crew rather than the actors. For the next several years, Howard appeared in New York plays. Among these were House and Garden, a 2002 Alan Ayckbourn
production held at the Manhattan Theatre Club
, in which she portrayed a disdainful, flirtatious teen. While performing as Rosalind in the critically acclaimed 2003 William Shakespeare
comedy production As You Like It
, Howard caught the eye of director M. Night Shyamalan
. Howard was not familiar with the play and was cast just one day before it started. She then starred in the Alan Brown
-directed 2004 drama Book of Love, about a young woman having an affair with a lonely teenage boy, destroying her marriage. It was generally ignored by critics and movie goers alike.
Her breakthrough role came in Shyamalan's fantasy thriller The Village
(2004). When Kirsten Dunst
could not commit to the schedule, Howard was cast without having to audition two weeks after Shyamalan first saw her onstage. Its story is about a "turn-of-the-20th-century" village whose residents live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. She plays the female lead, the chief's blind
daughter and love interest to Joaquin Phoenix
's part. Her performance was applauded by critics and Howard was nominated for several awards, mostly in the category of "Best Breakthrough Performance". The Village did well commercially, but had a mixed reception. Following that, Howard was cast by Lars Von Trier
to replace Nicole Kidman
as Grace Mulligan in Manderlay
, the 2005 sequel to Dogville
(2003). Set in a plantation
, the director said that it is "quite clear" his movie can be seen as an allusion to President George W. Bush's efforts to impose democracy in Iraq
. Manderlay was a box office bomb
, making only $674,000 of its $14.2 million production budget.
Howard reunited with Shyamalan for Lady in the Water
, in which she acts as Story, a type of water nymph
called a narf. Howard wore minimal clothing for the part. The 2006 fantasy film
release also stars Paul Giamatti
as the co-lead. Shyamalan's project follows the story of Giamatti's character rescuing what he thinks is a young woman (Howard) from his pool. Once he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story
who is trying to get back home, he teams up with his tenants to protect her from creatures that try to keep her in their world. It underperformed at the box office, falling short of its $75 million budget, and got largely critical reviews. When asked about what message she hoped viewers would get from the film, Howard said "I would say it's very simple - it's that if you have faith, all that is meant to be will happen." Next, she once again played Rosalind in Kenneth Branagh
's 2006 film version
of Shakespeare's As You Like It. It played in theatres in Europe before going directly to cable in the United States, premiering on HBO. Howard was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
at the 2008 ceremony
. The project got soundly negative reviews from the British media, while American reviewers gave it more favorable notice. Writing in USA Today
, Robert Bianco observed: "As Rosalind, the show's leading lady, Bryce Dallas Howard is a bit uncontrolled, particularly compared with such more precise co-stars as Alfred Molina
, David Oyelowo
and Brian Blessed
. But she's incredibly appealing, and that in itself sells the love story."
, Spider-Man 3
, a superhero
movie, starring opposite Tobey Macguire and Kirsten Dunst
. Adapted from the Marvel Comics
and the last film Sam Raimi
directed for the series, Howard played Peter Parker
's classmate Gwen Stacy
, a fan favorite. A challenge that came with playing Gwen was reminding fans of the good-intentioned character who was Peter's first love in the comics, yet came off as "the other woman" in the movie. Howard dyed her naturally red hair blonde for the role and performed many of her own stunts, unaware that she was several months pregnant. Grossing $890 million, it is her most profitable movie and the highest grossing in the trilogy. The same year she wrote and directed a short film, Orchids, as part of Glamour
magazine's "Reel Moments
" series funded by Cartier
and FilmAid International
. Terminator Salvation
, a high-budgeted 2009 science fiction
movie, was her next project. Cast in June 2008, she superseded Charlotte Gainsbourg
as Kate Connor. Howard was already a fan of the series. Set in 2018, the film follows a group of survivors led by John Connor
struggle to prevent the machines from destroying all humanity. It grossed a total of $370 million, but was not well received, with one critic calling it "a shambolic, deafening, intelligence-insulting mess, a crushing failure on almost all counts." Howard replaced Lindsay Lohan
as the lead character in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond
(2009). Based on a 1957 screenplay by Tennessee Williams
, it did not play at many theaters.
A big career point for Howard was playing the role of Victoria, a vampire seeking revenge, in the Twilight series'
third installment The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. The film is a romantic
vampire film from Summit Entertainment
that is based on the book by Stephenie Meyer
. She landed the part after Rachelle Lefevre
dropped out from a scheduling conflict in July 2009.
Howard had already been a huge fan of the books and considered Victoria to be an "incredible character". Eclipse was directed by David Slade
and filming started in August 2009. Released to theaters on June 30, it set a new record for the biggest midnight opening domestically in box office
history, making around $30 million in over 4,000 theaters and topped the weekend box office with $64 million in ticket sales. In total, Eclipse made nearly $700 million. Reviews from the media were polarized, but critics did take a liking to Howard in her role.
In December 2009, Howard was cast in Clint Eastwood
's Hereafter
(2010), as a burgeoning love interest of Matt Damon
's character. When Howard first read the script to Hereafter, she was hooked on it, having been attracted to its central character (Damon)a reclusive man with the ability to speak to the deceased. "It's personal for me because a lot of my family members actually have that ability. It's kind of wild," Howard said. In early January 2011, Howard became the first celebrity ambassador for purse designer Kate Spade
. Her first film of 2011 was The Help
, a movie adaption of Kathryn Stockett
's 2009 best-selling novel of the same name
; it also starred Emma Stone, Viola Davis
, Octavia Spencer
, and Jessica Chastain
. It focused on African-American servants and their wealthy white employers in Mississippi
prior to the civil rights era. Howard has teamed up with her father to help produce Gus Van Sant
's Restless
, a dark coming of age movie about a teenage boy and girl who are engrossed with death. She had a supporting role opposite Seth Rogen
in the cancer dramedy 50/50, which was based on a true story. "It’s viewing that experience through a very truthful lens of humour", she stated of 50/50s take on its heavy subject matter. Both films had September releases. In 2011, she announced that she would be directing a film called The Original. She co-wrote the screenplay with her brother-in-law Dane Charbonneau and described it as "a Breakfast Club for my generation". This would mark her directorial debut.
, with whom she now lives in Hollywood, California. The two met at New York University
and dated for five years. She had only one previous boyfriend and claims to have pursued Gabel vigorously after first meeting him. They had planned to start a family together in their 30s. However, seven days after their wedding, she learned that she was expecting their first child. Howard gave birth to their child, a son named Theodore Norman Howard Gabel, nicknamed Theo, on February 16, 2007. Theo's godfather is actor Josh Gad
. Howard later admitted to suffering from post-partum depression. Howard had difficulty breast-feeding, which she found to be more painful than experiencing natural child birth and would often cry in the shower. Rather than refer to her son by his name, she would call him "it". Feeling overwhelmed and unable to make decisions, Howard also felt not only disconnected from her husband and baby, but herself as well. With the combination of homeopathic treatments and sessions with a physician and a therapist, she overcame the depression, which lasted for about 18 months. Howard said of the depression in 2010,
In May 2011, her representative confirmed to People magazine
that the couple are expecting their second child together. Howard became a devoted vegan
when Joaquin Phoenix, a co-star in The Village, showed her a documentary on animal cruelty
called Earthlings
. However, in August 2006, Howard announced that she had switched her diet from vegan to vegetarian
in order to help boost her amino acid
levels in preparation for her pregnancy
. Due to a rare medical condition she developed after her pregnancy
, she now eats meat. She is also slightly superstitious.
During her senior year of high school, Howard learned of and fell in love with existentialism
. "I was like, 'This is it! This is my religion.' I had never felt a connection to any sort of spirituality
before that. It was very basic - you're responsible for the choices that you make - but it was mind-blowing at the time." Her hobby is writing and she is good friends with Kirsten Dunst, Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal
. Howard has said that she gets "freaked out" by "the Hollywood scene" and has never had a sip of alcohol in her entire life. She credits seeing the negative effects of alcoholism in her family as the reason behind the decision. "When I was in high school, I would never go to parties because I would be embarrassed to say no. Consequently, I had almost no social group," Howard recalled.
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
. She made her acting debut in her father's 1989 movie Parenthood and went on to have small roles in films and make stage appearances for the next several years. During this time she also attended New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
, later getting a BFA
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
, and went to drama schools. After gaining the attention of M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan,known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, is an Indian-born American screenwriter, film director, and producer known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies in and around...
, he cast her in what would be her breakout film, The Village
The Village (2004 film)
The Village is a 2004 American fantasy-thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan about a end-of-the-19th-century village whose inhabitants live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. The movie was shot in a recreation of a 19th-century village outside Philadelphia,...
(2004), and 2006's Lady in the Water
Lady in the Water
The soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise, and rock 'n' roll revivalists Silvertide. Each of the four songs was written by Bob Dylan...
, which was a commercial and critical failure. Her performance in As You Like It
As You Like It (2006 film)
As You Like It is a 2006 film directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is based on the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare. The play's setting is relocated from medieval France to a European colony in late 19th century Japan after the Meiji Restoration. It was shot at Shepperton Film Studios and on...
(2006) earned her a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
nomination in 2008.
Howard became more recognizable to audiences as Gwen Stacy
Gwen Stacy
Gwendolyn "Gwen" Stacy appears as a supporting character in Marvel Comics' Spider-Man series. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 ....
in 2007's Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...
and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), playing Victoria, a villainous vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
seeking revenge. Those two projects, as well as the 2009 Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by McG and starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. The fourth installment in the Terminator series, the film is set in 2018 and focuses on the war between Skynet and humanity, with the human Resistance fighting...
release, are among her most financially successful movies, but all three garnered mixed reviews from the press. Aside from acting, Howard will serve as a co-producer along with her father to Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
's coming of age feature Restless
Restless (2011 film)
Restless is a 2011 British-American drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Jason Lew. It stars Henry Hopper and Mia Wasikowska. Shot in Portland, Oregon, United States, and produced by Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer for Columbia Pictures and Imagine Entertainment, it...
, and will make her directorial debut with The Original.
She has been married to fellow actor Seth Gabel
Seth Gabel
Seth Gabel is an American actor. Gabel plays the role of agent Lincoln Lee on Fox's television series Fringe.-Career:...
since 2006. They have one child together, a son nicknamed Theo, who was born in early 2007. The couple currently resides in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Early life
Conceived in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
the source of her middle nameHoward was born in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, the daughter of Cheryl (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Alley), a writer, and Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
actor-director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Ron Howard
Ron Howard
Ronald William "Ron" Howard is an American actor, director, and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom Happy Days for six years...
, on March 2, 1981. Her paternal grandparents are actors Rance Howard
Rance Howard
Rance Howard is an American actor who has starred in film and on television.-Life and career:Howard was born Harold Rance Beckenholdt in Oklahoma, the son of Ethel Cleo and Engel Beckenholdt, a farmer. He changed his name to "Rance Howard" when he became an actor. He married Jean Speegle Howard...
and the late Jean Speegle Howard
Jean Speegle Howard
Jean Speegle Howard was an American actress who acted primarily in film and on television. Howard made appearances in over 30 television shows, mostly sitcoms, such as Married.....
; her uncle is actor Clint Howard
Clint Howard
Clinton "Clint" Howard is an American film and television actor. He is a character actor with numerous brief appearances on television and films. He has played many bit parts in movies directed by his brother, actor-turned-director Ron Howard. He is also the uncle of actress Bryce Dallas Howard...
; and her godfather is actor Henry Winkler
Henry Winkler
Henry Franklin Winkler, OBE is an American actor, director, producer, and author.Winkler is best known for his role as Fonzie on the 1970s American sitcom Happy Days...
, who co-starred on Happy Days
Happy Days
Happy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
with her father. Howard and her younger sisters, twins Jocelyn Carlyle Howard and Paige Carlyle Howard (born 1985), and their younger brother, Reed Cross Howard (born 1987), were named after the places they were conceived. All of the Howard children were raised away from the world of show business. Their parents did not allow them access to television and instead encouraged outdoor activities and hobbies. At the age of 7, however, she was allowed to be an extra
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
in her father's movies. In an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jay Leno that initially aired from May 25, 1992 to May 29, 2009, and resumed production on March 1, 2010. The fourth incarnation of the Tonight Show franchise made its debut on May 25, 1992, three days following Johnny...
, Howard mentioned that she and her siblings were babysat by family friend Tom Cruise
Tom Cruise
Thomas Cruise Mapother IV , better known as Tom Cruise, is an American film actor and producer. He has been nominated for three Academy Awards and he has won three Golden Globe Awards....
on several occasions. She was raised in Westchester
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and on a farm in Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich, Connecticut
Greenwich is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town had a total population of 61,171. It is home to many hedge funds and other financial service companies. Greenwich is the southernmost and westernmost municipality in Connecticut and is 38+ minutes ...
.
Howard attended Stagedoor Manor
Stagedoor Manor
Stagedoor Manor is a performing arts summer camp located in Loch Sheldrake, New York. Over the past 36 years, it has trained thousands of young actors, many of whom have gone on to success in film, television, and theatre....
, a performing arts camp in upstate New York, with actress Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman
Natalie Hershlag , better known by her stage name Natalie Portman, is an actress with dual American and Israeli citizenship. Her first role was as an orphan taken in by a hitman in the 1994 French action film Léon, but major success came when she was cast as Padmé Amidala in the Star Wars prequel...
. After graduating from high school, she studied at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
's (NYU) Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
for three years, during which time she also attended the Stella Adler
Stella Adler
Stella Adler was an American actress and an acclaimed acting teacher, who founded the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City and the The Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles with long-time protege Joanne Linville, who continues to teach and furthers Adler's legacy...
Conservatory, The Experimental Wing, and International Theatre Wing in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
. During her schooling, she took part in the concept recording of the Broadway-bound musical A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
. She graduated with her BFA
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
in Drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
in 2003. Howard is also an alumna of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Tony Award-winning Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry in the basement of a church in Highland Park, Illinois. It has since relocated to Chicago's Halsted Street, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Its name comes from...
's School at Steppenwolf in Chicago, and of The Actors Center
The Actors Center
The Actors Center, New York City, was founded in 1996 by J. Michael Miller. It was established on the concept that established actors need to continue to develop their craft in relation to their growth as human beings...
in New York City. During her time in New York, Howard was also a member of downtown
Downtown
Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....
theater company Theater Mitu
Theater Mitu
"Founded in 1997, Theater Mitu has earned a wide reputation as an adventuresome and dynamic ensemble of artists. Under the leadership of artistic director Rubén Polendo, the Company is dedicated to transliterating a wide variety of performance traditions, exploring theatrical form, and supporting...
, in residence at New York Theatre Workshop
New York Theatre Workshop
__notoc__New York Theatre Workshop is an Off-Broadway theatre noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and the Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it houses a 198-seat theatre for its mainstage productions, and a...
, who are known for their exploration of theatrical forms. When she had applied to drama schools she dropped her last name to avoid special treatment because of her father. She later had second thoughts because her first and middle name combined made her sound like a porn star.
1995 2006
Howard made her acting debut as an uncredited extra in her father's 1989 comedy-drama feature Parenthood. She was also an extra in her father's critically lauded Apollo 13Apollo 13 (film)
Apollo 13 is a 1995 American drama film directed by Ron Howard. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris. The screenplay by William Broyles, Jr...
(1995) and the 2000 holiday live action
Live action
In filmmaking, video production, and other media, the term live action refers to cinematography, videography not produced using animation...
Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
production How the Grinch Stole Christmas. While on her dad's film sets, she would often socialize with the crew rather than the actors. For the next several years, Howard appeared in New York plays. Among these were House and Garden, a 2002 Alan Ayckbourn
Alan Ayckbourn
Sir Alan Ayckbourn CBE is a prolific English playwright. He has written and produced seventy-three full-length plays in Scarborough and London and was, between 1972 and 2009, the artistic director of the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough, where all but four of his plays have received their...
production held at the Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan Theatre Club is a theater company located in New York City. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has grown since its founding in 1970 from an Off-Off Broadway showcase into one of the country’s most acclaimed...
, in which she portrayed a disdainful, flirtatious teen. While performing as Rosalind in the critically acclaimed 2003 William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
comedy production As You Like It
As You Like It
As You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
, Howard caught the eye of director M. Night Shyamalan
M. Night Shyamalan
Manoj Nelliyattu Shyamalan,known professionally as M. Night Shyamalan, is an Indian-born American screenwriter, film director, and producer known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies in and around...
. Howard was not familiar with the play and was cast just one day before it started. She then starred in the Alan Brown
Alan Brown (filmmaker)
-Movies:Brown's first film, the half-hour narrative O Beautiful, won the Future Filmmaker Award at the 2002 Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, and was an official selection of the 2003 Sundance Film Festival...
-directed 2004 drama Book of Love, about a young woman having an affair with a lonely teenage boy, destroying her marriage. It was generally ignored by critics and movie goers alike.
Her breakthrough role came in Shyamalan's fantasy thriller The Village
The Village (2004 film)
The Village is a 2004 American fantasy-thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan about a end-of-the-19th-century village whose inhabitants live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. The movie was shot in a recreation of a 19th-century village outside Philadelphia,...
(2004). When Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
could not commit to the schedule, Howard was cast without having to audition two weeks after Shyamalan first saw her onstage. Its story is about a "turn-of-the-20th-century" village whose residents live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. She plays the female lead, the chief's blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
daughter and love interest to Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Rafael Phoenix , formerly credited as Leaf Phoenix, is an American film actor. He was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and his family returned to the continental United States four years later...
's part. Her performance was applauded by critics and Howard was nominated for several awards, mostly in the category of "Best Breakthrough Performance". The Village did well commercially, but had a mixed reception. Following that, Howard was cast by Lars Von Trier
Lars von Trier
Lars von Trier is a Danish film director and screenwriter. He is closely associated with the Dogme 95 collective, although his own films have taken a variety of different approaches, and have frequently received strongly divided critical opinion....
to replace Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Mary Kidman, AC is an American-born Australian actress, singer, film producer, spokesmodel, and humanitarian. After starring in a number of small Australian films and TV shows, Kidman's breakthrough was in the 1989 thriller Dead Calm...
as Grace Mulligan in Manderlay
Manderlay
Manderlay is the 2005 sequel to the film Dogville. It is the second part of Lars von Trier's projected USA - Land of Opportunities trilogy. Bryce Dallas Howard replaces Nicole Kidman in the role of Grace Mulligan. The film co-stars Willem Dafoe, replacing James Caan...
, the 2005 sequel to Dogville
Dogville
Dogville is a 2003 drama written and directed by Lars von Trier, and starring Nicole Kidman, Lauren Bacall, Chloë Sevigny, Paul Bettany, Stellan Skarsgård, Udo Kier, and James Caan...
(2003). Set in a plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
, the director said that it is "quite clear" his movie can be seen as an allusion to President George W. Bush's efforts to impose democracy in Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
. Manderlay was a box office bomb
Box office bomb
The phrase box office bomb refers to a film for which the production and marketing costs greatly exceeded the revenue regained by the movie studio. This should not be confused with Hollywood accounting when official figures show large losses, yet the movie is a financial success.A film's financial...
, making only $674,000 of its $14.2 million production budget.
Howard reunited with Shyamalan for Lady in the Water
Lady in the Water
The soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise, and rock 'n' roll revivalists Silvertide. Each of the four songs was written by Bob Dylan...
, in which she acts as Story, a type of water nymph
Nymph
A nymph in Greek mythology is a female minor nature deity typically associated with a particular location or landform. Different from gods, nymphs are generally regarded as divine spirits who animate nature, and are usually depicted as beautiful, young nubile maidens who love to dance and sing;...
called a narf. Howard wore minimal clothing for the part. The 2006 fantasy film
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
release also stars Paul Giamatti
Paul Giamatti
Paul Edward Valentine Giamatti is an American actor. Giamatti began his career as a supporting actor in several films produced during the 1990s including Private Parts, The Truman Show, Saving Private Ryan, The Negotiator, and Man on the Moon, before earning lead roles in several projects in the...
as the co-lead. Shyamalan's project follows the story of Giamatti's character rescuing what he thinks is a young woman (Howard) from his pool. Once he discovers that she is actually a character from a bedtime story
Bedtime story
A bedtime story is a traditional form of storytelling, where a story is told to a child at bedtime to prepare them for sleep.Bedtime stories have many advantages, for parents/adults and children alike. The fixed routine of a bedtime story before sleeping has a relaxing effect, and the soothing...
who is trying to get back home, he teams up with his tenants to protect her from creatures that try to keep her in their world. It underperformed at the box office, falling short of its $75 million budget, and got largely critical reviews. When asked about what message she hoped viewers would get from the film, Howard said "I would say it's very simple - it's that if you have faith, all that is meant to be will happen." Next, she once again played Rosalind in Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
's 2006 film version
As You Like It (2006 film)
As You Like It is a 2006 film directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is based on the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare. The play's setting is relocated from medieval France to a European colony in late 19th century Japan after the Meiji Restoration. It was shot at Shepperton Film Studios and on...
of Shakespeare's As You Like It. It played in theatres in Europe before going directly to cable in the United States, premiering on HBO. Howard was nominated for a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
at the 2008 ceremony
65th Golden Globe Awards
The 65th Golden Globe Awards, honoring the best in film and television of 2007, were scheduled to be presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on January 13, 2008...
. The project got soundly negative reviews from the British media, while American reviewers gave it more favorable notice. Writing in USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
, Robert Bianco observed: "As Rosalind, the show's leading lady, Bryce Dallas Howard is a bit uncontrolled, particularly compared with such more precise co-stars as Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina
Alfred Molina is a British-born American actor. He first came to public attention in the UK for his supporting role in the 1987 film Prick Up Your Ears...
, David Oyelowo
David Oyelowo
- Background :Oyelowo was born in Oxford, England of Nigerian descent. He is married to actress Jessica Oyelowo and they have three sons.Oyelowo first attended a youth theatre after being invited by a girl to whom he was attracted. He then studied Theatre Studies for A level and his teacher...
and Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed
Brian Blessed is an English actor, known for his sonorous voice and "hearty, king-sized portrayals".-Early life:The son of William Blessed, a socialist miner, and Hilda Wall, Blessed was born in the town of Goldthorpe, West Riding of Yorkshire, England...
. But she's incredibly appealing, and that in itself sells the love story."
2007 present
In 2007, Howard starred in her first blockbusterBlockbuster (entertainment)
Blockbuster, as applied to film or theatre, denotes a very popular or successful production. The entertainment industry use was originally theatrical slang referring to a particularly successful play but is now used primarily by the film industry...
, Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3
Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man...
, a superhero
Superhero film
A superhero film, superhero movie, or superhero motion picture is: action, fantasy and science fiction film; that is focused on the actions of one or more superheroes, individuals who usually possess superhuman abilities relative to a normal person and are dedicated to protecting the public...
movie, starring opposite Tobey Macguire and Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
. Adapted from the Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
and the last film Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
directed for the series, Howard played Peter Parker
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
's classmate Gwen Stacy
Gwen Stacy
Gwendolyn "Gwen" Stacy appears as a supporting character in Marvel Comics' Spider-Man series. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 ....
, a fan favorite. A challenge that came with playing Gwen was reminding fans of the good-intentioned character who was Peter's first love in the comics, yet came off as "the other woman" in the movie. Howard dyed her naturally red hair blonde for the role and performed many of her own stunts, unaware that she was several months pregnant. Grossing $890 million, it is her most profitable movie and the highest grossing in the trilogy. The same year she wrote and directed a short film, Orchids, as part of Glamour
Glamour (magazine)
Glamour is a women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. Founded in 1939 in the United States, it was originally called Glamour of Hollywood....
magazine's "Reel Moments
Reel Moments
Reel Moments is an annual film series project by Glamour Magazine. The program entails a competition where its readers submit short stories with three being selected to be made into short films. The short stories submitted are all non-fiction personal essays...
" series funded by Cartier
Cartier SA
Cartier S.A., commonly known as Cartier , is a French luxury jeweler and watch manufacturer. The corporation carries the name of the Cartier family of jewellers whose control ended in 1964 and who were known for numerous pieces including the "Bestiary" , the diamond necklace created for Bhupinder...
and FilmAid International
FilmAid International
FilmAid International is a non-profit humanitarian organization that uses the power of film to address the needs of displaced people around the world. The organization was founded in 1999 to help people in Macedonia who had fled from their homes in Kosovo. With the encouragement of the United...
. Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation
Terminator Salvation is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by McG and starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. The fourth installment in the Terminator series, the film is set in 2018 and focuses on the war between Skynet and humanity, with the human Resistance fighting...
, a high-budgeted 2009 science fiction
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
movie, was her next project. Cast in June 2008, she superseded Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Gainsbourg
Charlotte Lucy Gainsbourg is an Anglo-French actress and singer. After releasing an album with her father at the age of fifteen, more than twenty years passed before she released two albums as an adult to commercial and critical success...
as Kate Connor. Howard was already a fan of the series. Set in 2018, the film follows a group of survivors led by John Connor
John Connor
John Connor is a character appearing in the American science fiction Terminator franchise and he serves as the series main protagonist. Created by writer and director James Cameron, the character is first referred to in the 1984 film The Terminator and first appears portrayed by teenage actor...
struggle to prevent the machines from destroying all humanity. It grossed a total of $370 million, but was not well received, with one critic calling it "a shambolic, deafening, intelligence-insulting mess, a crushing failure on almost all counts." Howard replaced Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan is an American actress, pop singer and model. She began her career as a child fashion model before making her motion picture debut in Disney's 1998 remake of The Parent Trap at the age of 11...
as the lead character in The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond is a 2009 film by director Jodie Markell. The film is based on Tennessee Williams's long-forgotten 1957 screenplay. The film stars Bryce Dallas Howard in the leading role of Fisher Willow.- Plot :...
(2009). Based on a 1957 screenplay by Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
, it did not play at many theaters.
A big career point for Howard was playing the role of Victoria, a vampire seeking revenge, in the Twilight series'
The Twilight Saga (film series)
The Twilight Saga is a series of supernatural romance fantasy films from Summit Entertainment based on the four Twilight series novels by the American author Stephenie Meyer. The films star Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner. The series has grossed over $2 billion in worldwide...
third installment The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. The film is a romantic
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
vampire film from Summit Entertainment
Summit Entertainment
Summit Entertainment LLC is an independent film studio headquartered in Santa Monica, California with international offices in London.-History:...
that is based on the book by Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer
Stephenie Meyer is an American author known for her vampire romance series Twilight. The Twilight novels have gained worldwide recognition and sold over 100 million copies globally, with translations into 37 different languages...
. She landed the part after Rachelle Lefevre
Rachelle Lefèvre
Rachelle Lefevre is a Canadian actress. She has starred in the television series Big Wolf on Campus and had recurring roles in What About Brian, Boston Legal, and Swingtown. She played the vampire Victoria in the first two films of the Twilight saga, before being replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard...
dropped out from a scheduling conflict in July 2009.
Howard had already been a huge fan of the books and considered Victoria to be an "incredible character". Eclipse was directed by David Slade
David Slade
David Aldrin Slade is a British film director who began his career making music videos. His work includes videos for artists such as Aphex Twin, Rob Dougan, System of a Down, Stone Temple Pilots, Tori Amos, and Muse.-Life and career:...
and filming started in August 2009. Released to theaters on June 30, it set a new record for the biggest midnight opening domestically in box office
Box office
A box office is a place where tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through an unblocked hole through a wall or window, or at a wicket....
history, making around $30 million in over 4,000 theaters and topped the weekend box office with $64 million in ticket sales. In total, Eclipse made nearly $700 million. Reviews from the media were polarized, but critics did take a liking to Howard in her role.
In December 2009, Howard was cast in Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
's Hereafter
Hereafter (film)
Hereafter is a 2010 American drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, from a screenplay by Peter Morgan and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film tells three parallel stories about three people affected by death in similar ways - all three have issues of communicating with the dead; Matt Damon plays...
(2010), as a burgeoning love interest of Matt Damon
Matt Damon
Matthew Paige "Matt" Damon is an American actor, screenwriter, and philanthropist whose career was launched following the success of the film Good Will Hunting , from a screenplay he co-wrote with friend Ben Affleck...
's character. When Howard first read the script to Hereafter, she was hooked on it, having been attracted to its central character (Damon)a reclusive man with the ability to speak to the deceased. "It's personal for me because a lot of my family members actually have that ability. It's kind of wild," Howard said. In early January 2011, Howard became the first celebrity ambassador for purse designer Kate Spade
Kate Spade
Kate Brosnahan Spade is the co-founder and namesake of the designer brand, Kate Spade New York .- Early life and beginnings :...
. Her first film of 2011 was The Help
The Help (film)
The Help is a 2011 comedy-drama film adaptation of Kathryn Stockett's novel of the same name. The film is about a young white woman, Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, and her relationship with two black maids during Civil Rights era America in the early 1960s...
, a movie adaption of Kathryn Stockett
Kathryn Stockett
Kathryn Stockett is an American novelist. She is known for her 2009 debut novel, The Help, which is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the 1960s.-Career:...
's 2009 best-selling novel of the same name
The Help
The Help is an American situation comedy television series which premiered on The WB on March 5, 2004. The show was a raunchy comedy that focused on the hard-lucked life of a beauty school dropout, who now must work for the wealthy and spoiled Ridgeway family. The rest of the hired help are also...
; it also starred Emma Stone, Viola Davis
Viola Davis
Viola Davis is an American actress.Known primarily as a stage actress, Davis won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and a Drama Desk Award for her role in King Hedley II . She won a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role in the...
, Octavia Spencer
Octavia Spencer
Octavia L. Spencer is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role on Ugly Betty as Constance Grady, the INS Agent turned stalker of Betty's father, Ignacio Suarez and in the 2011 movie The Help as Minny....
, and Jessica Chastain
Jessica Chastain
Jessica Chastain is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Jessica Chastain was born Jessica Howard in Northern California. She is one of five children. Her mother, Jerri, is a vegan chef, and her stepfather, Michael, is a firefighter. Chastain is also vegan herself. She took her...
. It focused on African-American servants and their wealthy white employers in Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
prior to the civil rights era. Howard has teamed up with her father to help produce Gus Van Sant
Gus Van Sant
Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
's Restless
Restless (2011 film)
Restless is a 2011 British-American drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and written by Jason Lew. It stars Henry Hopper and Mia Wasikowska. Shot in Portland, Oregon, United States, and produced by Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer for Columbia Pictures and Imagine Entertainment, it...
, a dark coming of age movie about a teenage boy and girl who are engrossed with death. She had a supporting role opposite Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
in the cancer dramedy 50/50, which was based on a true story. "It’s viewing that experience through a very truthful lens of humour", she stated of 50/50s take on its heavy subject matter. Both films had September releases. In 2011, she announced that she would be directing a film called The Original. She co-wrote the screenplay with her brother-in-law Dane Charbonneau and described it as "a Breakfast Club for my generation". This would mark her directorial debut.
Personal life
On June 17, 2006, Howard married fellow actor Seth GabelSeth Gabel
Seth Gabel is an American actor. Gabel plays the role of agent Lincoln Lee on Fox's television series Fringe.-Career:...
, with whom she now lives in Hollywood, California. The two met at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
and dated for five years. She had only one previous boyfriend and claims to have pursued Gabel vigorously after first meeting him. They had planned to start a family together in their 30s. However, seven days after their wedding, she learned that she was expecting their first child. Howard gave birth to their child, a son named Theodore Norman Howard Gabel, nicknamed Theo, on February 16, 2007. Theo's godfather is actor Josh Gad
Josh Gad
Joshua “Josh” Gad is an American film-, television-, and stage-actor best known for playing Elder Arnold Cunningham in the Broadway musical The Book of Mormon and the role of Ryan Church in the television series Back to You. Gad has also appeared in episodes of ER, The Daily Show, Modern Family...
. Howard later admitted to suffering from post-partum depression. Howard had difficulty breast-feeding, which she found to be more painful than experiencing natural child birth and would often cry in the shower. Rather than refer to her son by his name, she would call him "it". Feeling overwhelmed and unable to make decisions, Howard also felt not only disconnected from her husband and baby, but herself as well. With the combination of homeopathic treatments and sessions with a physician and a therapist, she overcame the depression, which lasted for about 18 months. Howard said of the depression in 2010,
"Do I wish I had never endured post-partum depression? Absolutely. But to deny the experience is to deny who I am. I still mourn the loss of what could have been, but I also feel deep gratitude for those who stood by me, for the lesson that we must never be afraid to ask for help, and for the feeling of summer that still remains."
In May 2011, her representative confirmed to People magazine
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
that the couple are expecting their second child together. Howard became a devoted vegan
Veganism
Veganism is the practice of eliminating the use of animal products. Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only...
when Joaquin Phoenix, a co-star in The Village, showed her a documentary on animal cruelty
Cruelty to animals
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse or animal neglect, is the infliction of suffering or harm upon non-human animals, for purposes other than self-defense. More narrowly, it can be harm for specific gain, such as killing animals for food or for their fur, although opinions differ with...
called Earthlings
Earthlings (documentary)
EARTHLINGS is a 2005 movie about humanity's use of animals as pets, food, clothing, entertainment, and for scientific research. The film is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix features music by Moby, directed by Shaun Monson and co-produced by Maggie Q, all of whom are practicing vegans.-Synopsis:Covering...
. However, in August 2006, Howard announced that she had switched her diet from vegan to vegetarian
Vegetarianism
Vegetarianism encompasses the practice of following plant-based diets , with or without the inclusion of dairy products or eggs, and with the exclusion of meat...
in order to help boost her amino acid
Amino acid
Amino acids are molecules containing an amine group, a carboxylic acid group and a side-chain that varies between different amino acids. The key elements of an amino acid are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen...
levels in preparation for her pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
. Due to a rare medical condition she developed after her pregnancy
Pregnancy
Pregnancy refers to the fertilization and development of one or more offspring, known as a fetus or embryo, in a woman's uterus. In a pregnancy, there can be multiple gestations, as in the case of twins or triplets...
, she now eats meat. She is also slightly superstitious.
During her senior year of high school, Howard learned of and fell in love with existentialism
Existentialism
Existentialism is a term applied to a school of 19th- and 20th-century philosophers who, despite profound doctrinal differences, shared the belief that philosophical thinking begins with the human subject—not merely the thinking subject, but the acting, feeling, living human individual...
. "I was like, 'This is it! This is my religion.' I had never felt a connection to any sort of spirituality
Spirituality
Spirituality can refer to an ultimate or an alleged immaterial reality; an inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of his/her being; or the “deepest values and meanings by which people live.” Spiritual practices, including meditation, prayer and contemplation, are intended to develop...
before that. It was very basic - you're responsible for the choices that you make - but it was mind-blowing at the time." Her hobby is writing and she is good friends with Kirsten Dunst, Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal
Jake Gyllenhaal
Jacob Benjamin "Jake" Gyllenhaal is an American actor. The son of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner, Gyllenhaal began acting at age ten...
. Howard has said that she gets "freaked out" by "the Hollywood scene" and has never had a sip of alcohol in her entire life. She credits seeing the negative effects of alcoholism in her family as the reason behind the decision. "When I was in high school, I would never go to parties because I would be embarrassed to say no. Consequently, I had almost no social group," Howard recalled.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Parenthood | Redheaded Girl in Audience | Extra |
| 1995 | Apollo 13 Apollo 13 (film) Apollo 13 is a 1995 American drama film directed by Ron Howard. The film stars Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon, Bill Paxton, Gary Sinise, Kathleen Quinlan and Ed Harris. The screenplay by William Broyles, Jr... |
Extra | |
| 2000 | How the Grinch Stole Christmas | Surprised Who | Extra |
| 2004 | Book of Love | Heather | |
| 2004 | Ivy Elizabeth Walker | ||
| 2005 | Manderlay Manderlay Manderlay is the 2005 sequel to the film Dogville. It is the second part of Lars von Trier's projected USA - Land of Opportunities trilogy. Bryce Dallas Howard replaces Nicole Kidman in the role of Grace Mulligan. The film co-stars Willem Dafoe, replacing James Caan... |
Grace Margaret Mulligan | |
| 2006 | As You Like It As You Like It (2006 film) As You Like It is a 2006 film directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is based on the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare. The play's setting is relocated from medieval France to a European colony in late 19th century Japan after the Meiji Restoration. It was shot at Shepperton Film Studios and on... |
Rosalind | Television film |
| 2006 | Lady in the Water Lady in the Water The soundtrack was composed by James Newton Howard. The last four tracks are non-soundtrack songs from singer/songwriter Amanda Ghost, Indie rock band A Whisper in the Noise, and rock 'n' roll revivalists Silvertide. Each of the four songs was written by Bob Dylan... |
Story | |
| 2007 | Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man 3 Spider-Man 3 is a 2007 American superhero film written and directed by Sam Raimi, with a screenplay by Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent. It is the third film in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man trilogy based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man... |
Gwen Stacy Gwen Stacy Gwendolyn "Gwen" Stacy appears as a supporting character in Marvel Comics' Spider-Man series. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, she first appeared in The Amazing Spider-Man #31 .... |
|
| 2008 | Good Dick Good Dick Good Dick is a 2008 film directed by Marianna Palka.The film competed among others in the Dramatic Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.-Plot:... |
Kissing Woman | Cameo |
| 2009 | Fisher Willow | ||
| 2009 | Terminator Salvation Terminator Salvation Terminator Salvation is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by McG and starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. The fourth installment in the Terminator series, the film is set in 2018 and focuses on the war between Skynet and humanity, with the human Resistance fighting... |
Kate Connor | |
| 2010 | Victoria | ||
| 2010 | Hereafter Hereafter (film) Hereafter is a 2010 American drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, from a screenplay by Peter Morgan and produced by Steven Spielberg. The film tells three parallel stories about three people affected by death in similar ways - all three have issues of communicating with the dead; Matt Damon plays... |
Melanie | |
| 2011 | Hilly Holbrook | ||
| 2011 | 50/50 | Rachael |
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Category | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Online Film Critics Society Awards | Best Breakthrough Performance | The Village The Village (2004 film) The Village is a 2004 American fantasy-thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan about a end-of-the-19th-century village whose inhabitants live in fear of the creatures inhabiting the woods beyond it. The movie was shot in a recreation of a 19th-century village outside Philadelphia,... |
|
| 2005 | Empire Award | Best Actress | ||
| 2005 | Empire Award | Best Newcomer | ||
| 2005 | MTV Movie Award | Best Breakthrough Female MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance This is a following list of the MTV Movie Award winners and nominees for Best Breakthrough Performance. In many years, the awards were split into Male and Female categories... |
||
| 2005 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Movie Scary Scene | ||
| 2008 | Golden Globe Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television | As You Like It As You Like It (2006 film) As You Like It is a 2006 film directed by Kenneth Branagh. It is based on the play As You Like It by William Shakespeare. The play's setting is relocated from medieval France to a European colony in late 19th century Japan after the Meiji Restoration. It was shot at Shepperton Film Studios and on... |
|
| 2010 | Teen Choice Award | Choice Movie Actress: Action Adventure | Terminator Salvation Terminator Salvation Terminator Salvation is a 2009 American science fiction action film directed by McG and starring Christian Bale and Sam Worthington. The fourth installment in the Terminator series, the film is set in 2018 and focuses on the war between Skynet and humanity, with the human Resistance fighting... |
|
| 2011 | MTV Movie Awards MTV Movie Awards The MTV Movie Awards is a film awards show presented annually on MTV . It also contains movie parodies that used official movie footage with hosts and other celebrities and music performances. The nominees are decided by producers and executives at MTV. Winners are decided online by the general... |
Best Fight MTV Movie Award for Best Fight The MTV Movie Award for Best Fight is an award presented to actors and characters for quality fight scenes in films at the MTV Movie Awards, a ceremony established in 1992. Honors in several categories are awarded by MTV at the annual ceremonies, and are chosen by public vote... (shared with cast members Xavier Samuel Xavier Samuel Xavier Samuel is an Australian actor. He has appeared in leading roles in the feature films September, Further We Search, and Newcastle, and played Riley Biers in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, the third movie in Stephenie Meyer's The Twilight Saga film series.-Early life and education:Samuel was... and Robert Pattinson Robert Pattinson Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson is an English actor, model, musician, and producer. Born and raised in London, Pattinson started out his career by playing the role of Cedric Diggory in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire... ) |
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse |