Eclipse actress Bryce Dallas Howard recently spoke about her latest role as the dark, and evil Hilly Holbrook in Tate Taylor‘s The Help, starring Emma Stone and Viola Davis.
During the interview, Howard also revealed what draws her to those complex character roles (The Village, Manderlay), and shared what ultimately made her follow in her famous father’s foot steps.
Appearing in a handful of pivotal roles, she said that she’s not a “serious person”, compared to the likes of some of her on screen alter egos. She’s actually “playful”, but adds that “I take characters very seriously and the work very seriously. I have a lot of fun with it and really enjoy myself. But I’ve seen on set sometimes people who will come there and not necessary have their lines fully memorized and be kind of winging it and they often bring such a natural playfulness and spontaneity and it’s kind of electric. They play characters that are very close to themselves so they’re very natural. That’s definitely their approach and it works in their favor. For myself, part of the joy for me is creating someone different or going into a world I didn’t know about that is unfamiliar. It’s a difference in approach.”
A performer who “concentrates” more on the finer “details”, and her alter ego’s ” background and psychology,” Dallas Howard says that “sometimes these other folks have something very special in them that they offer, so it doesn’t totally matter what the character is because each time they bring themselves. I am a little bit more obsessed with a character. I’ve never articulated that before.”
How did the thirty year old actress come to realize that acting was for her? “My memory of coming around to this idea of acting was that it was almost a discovery. For a long time I was thinking about a few other professions that I was very seriously considering. When I was applying to colleges is when I realized I wanted to study acting along with writing in a double major.”
And although some might think the whole family has caught the acting bug from their father Ron Howard, that’s not so. “One of my sisters is an actress, my other sister is at school right now to be a social worker and my brother is a professional golfer. My sister studying social work has never been interested in acting ever, ever, ever! And my brother has never been interested in acting. It makes me think it wasn’t necessarily genetic; it only infected 50% of us. Writing is a huge thing for me, and I was interested in forensic anthropology. I was really into it for a long time, I think because my best friend was into it. I admired her greatly. And then I considered child care — I worked in a center for four years.”
Bryce Dallas Howard can be seen next in the movie 50/50, due in theaters on September 30th, where she will appear in the role of Rachael. The Will Reiser written story follows a twenty-seven year old and his unexpected, and life changing experience after learning he has cancer.
via AskMen.com
