Bryce Dallas Howard Once Shared Her Parents Didn’t Want Her to Become an Actor
After years in the industry, actor Bryce Dallas Howard has made a name for herself for being one of Hollywood’s premiere stars. But in the beginning, her parents didn’t want her to have anything to do with the film industry. Despite her father already being a successful actor and director in his own right.
Bryce Dallas Howard knew not to expect success at all while pursuing an acting career
Howard was well aware that making a living off of acting wouldn’t be an easy task. Her father, iconic director Ron Howard, was already a prominent figure in Hollywood. But that didn’t make becoming a star any less daunting for the Jurassic World actor.
“I think because I’m a third-generation actor, I really knew to not expect success at all. I knew the statistics. I knew how difficult it is,” Howard once said in an interview with Moviefone.
When Howard was still in her teens, her grandmother gave her a reality check about the film industry that always stuck to her.
“‘Do you know what the rate of the average working actor in SAG is, in terms of how many auditions it takes for them to get a job?'” she recalled her grandmother asking. “The average working actor, which means they’re making a living as an actor. I thought maybe one in 10. It was one in every 64 auditions.”
Howard knew from that point on that being an actor was a gamble.
“So, going into my career that way, knowing the very real odds, having seen the ups and downs with my family, and also knowing that theirs was actually a success story, I hedged my bets like crazy,” Howard said.
Bryce Dallas Howard once revealed her parents didn’t want her to get into acting
Howard already had very minimum experience in Hollywood years before starring in several films. When she was just a child, she did minor work on the set of a popular film that would further her acting passion. But it was a passion that her parents didn’t want her following just yet.
“When I was seven I was allowed to be an extra in Parenthood, which was amazing. But then I kind of got addicted to it and my parents didn’t want me to want to act. They felt that would be putting your kid in an adult world,” Howard once said in an interview with The Telegraph.
Still, Howard went to a summer drama camp in her teens to further fuel her acting ambitions. There, she connected with another celebrity in Natalie Portman, who inspired Howard even more.
“I think seeing the joy that Natalie felt doing plays had an impact on me. I thought, ‘Oh, wow, how great to make a living doing something that you enjoy.’ I had grown up in that world, but it wasn’t until I had a peer like Natalie that I really understood it was a possibility for me as well,” Howard added.
Why Bryce Dallas Howard once told her brother that she felt like a failure
Howard was so serious about becoming an actor that she left New York University to focus more on her career. It was a move that paid off, as since then Howard has built up an impressive filmography for herself over the years. But at times, Howard still regretted quitting school so early. Especially when she saw her own family members graduating from their colleges.
“I just went to my younger brother’s college graduation in South Carolina, and I leaned over to my dad and said, ‘I feel like a failure.’ And he looked over at me and laughed. But I really have a thing about completion and would still like to get my degree,” she said.
