Name: Bryce Dallas Howard
Birthdate: March 2, 1981
Birthplace: Los Angeles, California
Claim to fame: She is the daughter of acclaimed filmmaker Ron Howard, so she was born into Hollywood royalty. But she became recognizable to audiences by her own merits after she played Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3 in 2007 and Victoria in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in 2010. Also, movies such as Terminator Salvation and The Help continued to get her more mainstream recognition.
What we can see her in next: Howard’s career hits the next level this summer when she stars in one of the major blockbusters opposite the ‘man of the moment’ Chris Pratt, as Claire Dearing in the fourth installment of the famous Jurassic Park series.
Interesting fact: Her middle name of ‘Dallas’ comes from the city in which she was conceived. All her siblings’ middle names come after the cities in which they were conceived as well.
Best quote: “I was raised in Connecticut. And honestly I wasn’t aware that my dad was a celebrity until I moved to Los Angeles a year ago.” — on being raised outside of the Hollywood bubble.
Why we love her: Our WCW this week is the daughter of famous Hollywood movie director Ron Howard. She’s also the goddaughter of Howard’s Happy Days co-star Henry Winkler. So it’s safe to say Bryce Dallas Howard has been blessed since childbirth.
But, her famous father didn’t want her to grow up with the Hollywood treatment, which is why she was raised outside of the Hollywood bubble in Connecticut. Although, her earliest experiences on sets were playing an extra on her father’s films such as Parenthood and Apollo 13. She also attended the prestigious Stagedoor Manor, a performing arts camp in upstate New York, with actress Natalie Portman. So she was already rolling in some pretty impressive groups, even with her father’s attempts to keep her outside the show business circles. She also attended the Tisch School of Performing Arts in New York where she earned a BFA in 2003, as well as studied at various drama schools in the city — in which she refused to use her last name for fear that she would receive special treatment. But she eventually stopped doing that as she felt the name ‘Bryce Dallas’ made her sound like a porn star.
In the years that followed her college graduation she started seeing some breaks — being cast in 2004’s The Village after the director saw her perform on stage and cast her within two weeks without having to audition for the part. Also starring in her first big blockbuster as Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man 3 in 2007 and being cast as Victoria in the third Twilight movie after Rachelle Lefevre dropped out due to scheduling conflicts. Some of her other successful movie roles are in Terminator Salvation, 50/50, The Help, and Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter.
Now Bryce Dallas Howard is taking the next big step in her career as she stars opposite the most popular actor in Hollywood right now, Chris Pratt, in one of the biggest movies of the summer, the fourth installment in the Jurassic Park series.
While she was born into royalty and has been steadily climbing in her career the past decade, major audiences are only now getting acquainted with this beautiful redhead. And along with her father’s wishes, she’s managed to escape the public eye as long as possible, but now by her own merits, she’s making a name for herself and hiding is no longer an option. Who knows, maybe this time next year she’ll be starring as the lead in one of her dad’s movies.
You can catch Howard in Jurassic World, in theatres nationwide on June 12.
