“As comfortable as I am on set, I am as uncomfortable as I am on the red carpet.” Bryce Dallas Howard (Los Angeles, 42 years old) is now releasing his new film, Argylle (February 2 in theaters, before reaching the Apple TV + platform), and is in the phase that it least enjoys of all: promotion. “I've always had a little bit of imposter syndrome, because I played the part, but then I think 'Matthew [Vaughn, el director] is the person to talk to about the movie, or Jason Fuchs [guionista y productor]”. Howard plays Elly Conway, a crime novel writer, somewhat misanthropic, for whom a perfect day consists of being at her house with her cat, alfie. This is among all the roles that the actress has played (Claire Dearing in the saga Jurassic World or the idealistic Grace in Manderlay, by Lars von Trier, among many others), the one that best represents her: “I am 100% a “cat lady.”
In Argylle, the cat lady is forced to become a cat woman and live the spy adventures of their characters. Just as in real life Howard must face the spotlight “at least once every two years since 2004″, when he made his first press tour. And she and her brothers have known that world since they were children, thanks to her father, Ron Howard (director, producer and actor, winner of two Oscars for An amazing mind, friend of George Lucas since American Graffiti and director of Only In the universe Star Wars), and his mother, writer and actress Cheryl Howard.
During her childhood, her parents tried to keep her from getting involved in the fame side of the industry. When did she find out that she was coming in package?
One day, when I was 11, Tom Cruise was walking five feet in front of me and suddenly a horde of people ate him. That's when I realized what fame could do. The security team lost him and had to dive through the crowd and pull him out. I was afraid of him, to the point that the memory is very vivid; but I also understood that these situations do not arise from a negative feeling, but from enthusiasm.
She says that the red carpet makes her feel more uncomfortable than the set, but she has said that working with Von Trier gave her acne and the role of a segregationist housewife in The Help It caused him a strong moral dilemma. How do you choose your roles, where are the red lines?
I think about this a lot. For example, I'm not the person to work on a project about a serial killer. This could change, but psychologically exposing myself to evil is not for me. I don't know if it has to do with being a mother, but as far as I know myself and can connect with my mental balance and my nervous system, it is not healthy for me to travel there, because I get deeply involved in the papers. Not to say there can't be creepy scenes, of course.
Even if he has to work with someone with a twisted mind, as the press release presents to Matthew Vaughn?
[Ríe] The funny thing is, Matthew came to me and told me how nervous the marketing team was when presenting this idea to him. And it seemed perfect to him. It makes sense because when you watch a Matthew Vaughn movie [director de Kick-Ass o la saga Kingsman] you don't know what to expect; its ability to innovate with storytelling From a cinematographic point of view and redefining genres, it is revolutionary and, furthermore, his work is a visual extravagance, something wild. One of the reasons why I wanted to embark on this project was, in fact, to be able to learn from it.
You grew up behind the scenes, rubbing shoulders with generational icons like Akira Kurosawa or Francis Ford Coppola.
The relationship I have with my father is very special. From a young age, he introduced us to the part of the industry that has to do with the craft, with production, with the team behind the cameras, and we came to have a very deep understanding of what his work consisted of. It is, without a doubt, a privilege.
Speaking of generations, he was born in 1981, he is part of that frontier generation that we still don't know if it is X, xennial or millennial.
We are the oldest millennials and I take that role very seriously. I think one of the terms that could be used to describe my farm is 'geriatric millennials'. I must say that I think about this very often and I am not alone: I think about my childhood and feel a deep nostalgia for a world in which we are not permanently connected to everything. I need to sit with my curiosity and my thoughts. I'm a bookworm. I think in terms of the Dewey system of classification, e.g. [una metodología ideada por el bibliotecario Melvin Dewey que permite añadir libros a una biblioteca agrupándolos por temática]. Libraries are like a sanctuary for me and the place where I feel happiest.
Has the use of technology changed your ability to concentrate on a book or a script, for example?
Preparing a role involves a lot of time for reflection; thinking about the character, exploring his possibilities, a lot of time spent dreaming, which is not possible with a cell phone at your side. For this reason, I have a series of rules that I have imposed on myself, such as not looking at my phone or not entering the computer when I am on a shoot, or directing. I have made it a point to be very present and dedicate all my attention to what I am doing. And I have discovered that the capacity to absorb, to learn, when you do that is greater.
In addition to knowing George Lucas, he has directed baby Yoda in some chapters of the series The Mandalorian. Perhaps it can resolve the eternal debate: what is the best order to watch movies from Star Wars?
[Ríe y resopla] That's a difficult question to answer. To my children, who were born after the prequels, I would recommend starting with those prequels [La amenaza fantasma, El ataque de los clones, La venganza de los Sith]. From there I would go to the old movies and then continue forward. My brain likes to follow a chronological order. But there is also value in watching the films in the order in which they were made. It depends on the person, I think there is no right or wrong order to watch the saga.
Direct, produce, act… Are women in cinema pushed to get into the production part in order to survive on the screen once they turn 40, as some actresses have denounced?
I recently heard Meryl Streep give a speech in which she said that she is not a versatile artist. And yet she has a film career as an absolutely model actress. Directing, producing, acting, writing, they are all disciplines that represent an enormous challenge and I do not agree that someone should feel obliged to cover them all in order to say that they have mastered the craft. But as far as I'm concerned, I believe in creating work for colleagues and for myself.
Which production companies do you admire?
Two of the ones I like the most are Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis. A lot of people have jobs thanks to Spencer. They are the kind of people who make things happen.
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