Bryce Dallas Howard On The Loss Of A Teardrop Diamond

Written by Judy Sloane Wednesday, 30 December 2009 12:18

Interview

Over the last few years, actress Bryce Dallas Howard has well and truly stepped out from behind the shadow of her father, actor/director Ron Howard, to develop a stunning career of her own. From mega franchises Spiderman, Terminator and Twilight - she will be playing Victoria in the third movie, Eclipse - to thrillers like The Village and costume dramas like As You Like It, Howard has shown herself to be a star of great diversity and talented. Her latest movie will see her display yet another facet of that talent, as she plays Fisher Willow in actress Jodie Markell's adaptation of Tennessee Williams's The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond. We caught up with Bryce, to talk about her role of a 1920s Memphis debutant who falls for farmhand Jimmy Dobyne (played by Chris Evans)...

This must be such a great time for you, you’ve been in the biggest franchises Spiderman, Terminator, now you’ve got you’ve got to do this recently-discovered Tennessee Williams film, what is this period like in your life now?

 

I just feel really lucky to get to work on a role like this, to originate a Tennessee Williams’ heroine, it’s not anything that I ever thought to even go for, you don’t think those kinds of roles will ever be available. It was extraordinary. For me, whether or not a film has a massive budget or if it’s an independent film, whatever way it’s getting made it’s always about the filmmaker, and hopefully being about the filmmaker’s vision and so that’s what really attracts me to projects. It was Jodie’s deeply profound understanding of what Williams’ intended for this piece, and then her own perspective and interpretation of that. It was so exciting for me.

 

You describe her as a Tennessee Williams’ heroine, is that a genre unto itself? Do you try to keep all the characterizations of his other characters out of your mind?

 

No, I really valued going through his canon of work and studying the great performances that had already been captured on film, and reading about the great theatrical performances, because he was a very singular writer, and he had particular themes that it seems he was consistently fascinated by. There’s an iconic Williams’ character that you see elements over and over again, which is a woman ahead of her time, a woman who is being suffocated by the world, a woman who is too bright, too clever, too sensitive to really survive and feel grounded. And to watch Blanche DuBois (Streetcar Named Desire) and Maggie the Cat (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), these iconic characters that he created, and steal, that was helpful.

 

In the 52 years since this was written, there has been some changes and approaches in terms of the way films are put together and what audiences expect. Did you have to adapt your approach to it, because it is so dialogue rich?

 

I come from a little bit of a theatrical background, and I went to drama school, so to get to do a piece where the characters get to talk a lot, where it isn’t simply visual, was really wonderful for me, juicy and exciting. So I didn’t feel like there needed to be an adaptation to a different kind of style, it’s just that the characters are speaking their mind, they are actually saying what’s on their mind and that’s something that Tennessee Williams is really famous for. Shakespeare does that and Tennessee Williams does that, and you crave that when you’re an actor for sure.

 

Jodie’s an actor who became a director. You grew up with an actor who became a director, is there a certain comfort zone or maybe a certain sense that maybe you can communicate in a different way with a director who’s been on your side of the camera?

 

I certainly have noticed it working with directors whose history is in performance, that’s how it started. There’s a different kind of focus to directors who are more prone to being really technically proficient or visual. A director needs to have both and Jodie has both for sure. But for me I felt really supported in terms of my performance in that when I had a question or when she was directing me there was an approach that was coming from a psychological place, because she’s an actor, so she knows how to speak that language.

 

What was the best advice your father ever gave you as an actor, and the best advice he gave you from a directorial standpoint?

 

The best advice he gave me was if there was anything else that I could do, to do that! From a directorial standpoint, I think it’s really Freudian the kind of trust I have in filmmakers, because I have such a trusting relationship with my dad. He’s such a mentor to me, he’s never let me down as a person, and so that has translated to me as filmmakers and I think the best piece of advice he’s given me has just been in his nature that I have an association that director means total authority, director means they will never let you down, director means just trust them and fill their vision and the story will be told in its best incarnation.

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You’re currently filming Clint Eastwood's new movie Hereafter, can you tell us about that?

 

That’s actually the first question I’ve been asked about that. I want to be careful as I haven’t spoken to anyone on the film as far as what I can share. It’s a Clint Eastwood film written by Peter Morgan and starring Matt Damon and I play opposite him. It’s an incredible story. I’m really going to be totally vague with you because I don’t want to speak out-of-turn because I just got hired.

 

And can you tell us anything about Spiderman 4?

 

All of us are still very much in contact, and I’m really supportive of whatever happens. I’m just really glad that it’s going to be Sam [Raimi], Tobey [Maguire] and Kirsten [Dunst] because they’re the epicenter of that franchise and they’re responsible for its success.

 

The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond opens in the USA on December 30