December 20, 2009|By RON DICKER; Special to The Courant
NEW YORK — When Bryce Dallas Howard returns to her family's Greenwich home, it's a joyous reunion, full of licking, neighing and braying.
The Howards' place is known for its menagerie. Horses, llamas, chickens and other beasts roam the 35 acres.
"It's sort of this farm in this gated community, and often the animals will break out of the farm and run around," Howard explains in a recent interview. "A guy in a Ferrari could be driving around, and a donkey will walk in the middle of the road. We're like the Beverly Hillbillies of Connecticut."
While the 28-year-old actress' dad, director Ron Howard, has confessed to a love-hate relationship with the free-range zoo, it remains one of the many charms that lure Bryce back home several times a year.
"I feel very connected to the kind of life there," she says. "There's an elegance about Greenwich. I really enjoyed being raised there."
Married on the family estate in June, 2006 and now the mother of a 2-year-old son, Theo, Howard lives in Los Angeles as a concession to her blossoming career. Her latest film, "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond" (in limited release Dec. 30) features her as a 1920s heiress flouting upper-crust conventions. In June, she'll appear on perhaps 4,000 screens as a vampire in "Twilight: Eclipse," the third film in the series based on Stephenie Meyer's books and a good bet to be one of the most profitable movies ever.
Howard already earned blockbuster cred in "The Village" and "Spider-Man III." "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond," directed by Jodie Markell from a Tennessee Williams screenplay, is intended to pump up her indie profile. So far, she's been able to conquer both sides of the budget spectrum.
"It's totally just the way it's happening," she says. "When I finish a film, I would audaciously declare the kind of thing I'd like to do next, and sometimes that happens. I feel like I've been really lucky in that regard. You're really at the whim of being hired."
UCONN HOOP DREAMS
To think that Howard once dreamed of sinking jump shots for Geno Auriemma at the University of Connecticut instead of tackling "Manderlay" for director Lars Von Trier. As a teenager, she quietly visited the Storrs campus with thoughts of pursuing basketball. Her dad may have won an Oscar and directed global megahits, but how many national championships does he have?
"I literally thought of pursuing a career as a professional basketball player," Howard says.
She juggled such hoop dreams and theatrical aspirations at Greenwich Country Day School. She later forced herself to make a decision: point guard or leading lady? "That was a pivotal moment for me," she says. "This was my future, and I chose to focus on studying theater."
Howard attended a public high school in New York's Westchester County and gained admission to New York University. She never made it to graduation, but on the way she met her future husband, actor Seth Gabel ("Dirty Sexy Money"), and gained a foothold in show business. M. Night Shyamalan saw Howard at a Public Theater production of "As You Like It" and cast her to fill in for Kirsten Dunst in "The Village," his 2004 tale of backward folk threatened by monsters. After she got the job, Ron Howard called Shyamalan to guarantee that his daughter would work hard. Shyamalan later cast her as the lead in "The Lady in the Water," a panned enterprise that did not stall Bryce Howard's upward trajectory.
She is not purely a chip off the old Richie Cunningham character. She does have red hair (dyed brunette for the premiere) and an easy smile. But she's also va-va-voom pretty, in a way that signals we're not in Mayberry anymore.
FALLS FOR 'TEARDROP'
In "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond," Howard reveled in the chance to emote. Film actors are often discouraged from "going big," but this is Tennessee Williams, after all. And she does it with a Southern accent that is her birthright. Her mother, Cheryl, hails from Louisiana.
Armed with Southern charms and big bucks, Howard's Willow persuades the hunky hired help to escort her on her debutante rounds in Memphis so she can secure a hefty inheritance. But when Fisher loses one of her $10,000 earrings at a stuffy cotillion, all parlor hell breaks loose. "Teardrop" will navigate an art-house run that will see less competition come January.
On the other side of the Hollywood universe, Howard is awaiting the summer release of "Twilight: Eclipse," the third installment of the hit vampire series. She took over the role of Bella's rival Victoria from Rachelle Lefevre and earned kudos from series star Kristen Stewart. Howard is more than a substitute mercenary. She read all the books before "Twilight" came out and proclaims "Eclipse" her favorite.
"We all feel really lucky to be part of this incredible phenomenon that's occurring," she says.
She's also on her own personal roll. Howard shared the screen last time out with Christian Bale in "Terminator Salvation." Her next project is the Clint Eastwood ghost story "Hereafter."
She teased her father at the "Teardrop" premiere about how his not hiring her since she was a kid doing walk-ons was a good-luck charm. But she sees plenty of Mom and Dad anyway. Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment offices are in Los Angeles, and they have the extra incentive of seeing their first grandchild as often as possible.
Still, L.A. isn't home-home. When the Howards reunite in Greenwich again, Bryce will head out with Theo to where the wild things are. The land becomes a petting zoo, she laughs, and Bryce is reminded of what she adores about the place.
