[IMG:L]The Spider-Man films may be partially funded by wig and hair dye manufacturers. They have Kirsten Dunst playing redhead Mary Jane Watson and Bryce Dallas Howard as platinum blonde bombshell Gwen Stacy. In Spider-Man 3, the classic – and legendarily tragic – comic book character appears, in a different form. No longer Peter Parker’s first love (that’s MJ in the movies), Gwen Stacy is a college classmate who increasing closeness to Peter stokes MJ’s jealousy.
Howard looks as different in the film as she does in real life right now. A natural redhead (it runs in the Howard family, see father Ron), she became a platinum bombshell in the film. Now, just months after giving birth to her first son Theodore Norman Howard Gable, better known to his mom as Theo, she’s back to her natural hair and no glamorous designers, but with a distinct post-pregnant glow for an exclusive chat with Hollywood.com.
Hollywood.com: Is there a certain physicality to being the bombshell character?
Bryce Dallas Howard: Yes, that was a huge shift for me. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen any work that I’ve done previously, but I’m pretty much always this sort of dirty, pasty character. It’s very different for me becoming a blonde. For that reason, I dyed my hair blonde because it was so foreign to me, I needed to kind of feel comfortable within it and know what it was like to walk around as a blonde and what people’s reactions were like and how I might alter and it really did change things quite a bit. It was interesting. There’s an inherent sexuality, I think, to being blonde.
HW: So what did you notice about how you carried yourself differently?
BDH: Well, I think with blondes, I think people look at blondes more because obviously, especially if you’re platinum blonde like that, it’s a color that attracts people’s attention. So they’re used to being seen and perceived and interpreted and judged and what not. So I think there’s a bit of that going on that when a blonde walks into the room – they’re very aware of the attention that they could possibly get. There’s like a self-awareness there, almost like a maturity, I think. So that’s what I tried to convey with Gwen Stacy.
[IMG:R]HW: Did you come up with the perfect movie scream for the distress scenes?
BDH: Oh no, because for those scenes, what they did was they built this three- or four-story structure inside of a sound stage with this whole hydraulic system that they literally collapsed over and over and over again. They had me in the scene and I did all my stunts. I was in a harness and they literally just dropped me so that scream is very authentic. There was no acting involved whatsoever.
HW: How did you like Gwen’s fashion sense?
BDH: It’s very girly and very simple, kind of. Actually, it’s interesting as well, because I remember Sam [Raimi] saying she was created in 1965 and she was gone by 1973, essentially. So there was something about that era and that era of fashion that was really important to convey in this character, even though this is a contemporary film. It was important that she had kind of like a ’60s, early ’70s feel about her, the innocent version of the ’60s and early ’70s. And I think we did a good job doing that just with the hair and obviously the headband and the boots and the bright colors, stuff like that.
HW: What would your normal fashion be? Obviously right now you’re in a very specific time.
BDH: Well, right now I just had a baby, so literally it’s like what fits. That’s pretty much my fashion right now, and what’s comfortable and what’s easy to wash because I’m getting just vomited on and peed on and all kind of things, spit up on. But typically, it’s also a lot about practicality. I also really like to have pieces, like pieces of clothing that I know I can save for a long time, almost like they’re pieces of art. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re really expensive. Like I love going to boutiques and finding designers that nobody knows about, and it’s handmade and it’s almost like my little secret or something.
HW: A lot of your film roles have hinged on big spoilers that are hard to talk around. Would it be nice to do a movie that doesn’t have any big secrets in it?
BDH: I know, good point. I don’t really have that thus far. No, because you know what? It’s a little unfortunate that some of the magic of movies is lost in the fact that scripts are now available on the internet and people are coming up with reviews before a film is released or before films are even completed, even worse. I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t think it’s fair at all. So I like being in a film where everybody is keeping it private so that the audience can have that kind of experience. Normally that’s rare. Normally with movies, the script is available to everyone, it’s out there and no big deal, but something like this, I think the studio’s been very precautious and I think that’s going to really serve the audience.
HW: With a character like Gwen Stacy that’s so iconic in the Spider-Man mythos, how has that been to handle all this interest that has been focused on you and your character prior to the movie coming out,? When you don’t want to give away the secrets?
BDH: It is tricky because I want to talk about it. I want to talk about everything because I am so excited to be a part of it. I am still even shocked a little bit that I was in it – I think it is just so tremendously cool. I also want to preserve the experience for audiences because there are so many expectations, and I want to make sure that they go in there innocently and not jaded. Knowing this or that or the other and having feelings or beliefs about what they know. It’s almost like if a painter had a blank canvas and the next canvas they had a bunch of pots of paint in different colors and someone came up to it and said “Oh I don’t like those colors.” Or “I love those colors, this is going to be a great painting.” Well you haven’t seen the painting yet, just wait and then you can make your assessment. So I try to protect that as much as I can.
HW: So it’ll probably be 10-13 years before Theo can see The Village because it’s kind of scary. Will you keep the twist a secret the whole time?
BDH: Oh gosh, I don’t know. I mean , I’m so terrible. I never talk about my own work or movies that I’m in. We actually, my parents the other day, said to me, “Bryce, you really need to tell us if you’re doing a movie because we need to know because we schedule family things and we need to know your schedule. You might as well tell us if you’re doing a movie and what it’s about.” And I was like, “Oh, okay.” Because I just keep all that stuff so private. So yeah, I doubt that I would really talk about my work extensively with him.
HW: Will he have some roles in your father’s movies?
BDH: No, no, no. My parents did the same with us. They didn’t put us in their movies…it says that on IMDB but that’s actually totally incorrect. What I was was like an extra in the way, way, way, way background. All my siblings were but never a line or any kind of a part at all…There’s a flash [in Parenthood]. I was an extra. There’s literally a flash of me where I [stuck my tongue out] and that’s it in one moment.
HW: Now that you’re a mom, do you instantly understand everything your parents ever did?
BDH: Yes. I have so much respect for my parents and I have so much respect for mothers in general. I have to say, I thought a lot about this ever since I had Theo. I feel very fortunate because in this business, oddly enough, there is a lot of flexibility and you really can bring your children to work and it’s relatively accommodating as long as it’s not detrimental to the child, as long as you can see how they’re doing, I think it’s a great place for kids. A lot of women don’t have that opportunity. A lot of women at this point, they would have to be going back to their office job or their work and then coming home and cleaning up, they have a lot of kids. It’s just very tricky to juggle it all and I just feel really grateful to be in the business that I am that it allows that. So I just have so much respect for all of those women that I think about that.
HW: How is your dad handling being a grandpa?
BDH: He is so happy. It is really cute too, to see him walking around the house holding Theo. Doing these weird goofy raps for him and stuff like that. It is so sweet.
HW: Are you going to stay at home or maybe travel with the family?
BDH: No, no, I think we’re going to stay at home for the most part. My husband has some work as well so he’ll be doing that. Yeah, we just moved as well so I have a lot of boxed to unpack and just settle into that. We did it all at once pretty much.
HW: So you don’t watch your work or talk about it. Is it really like just a job you do?
BDH: Yeah, pretty much. I don’t know. I spend a lot of time thinking about it of course and going through it in my mind and having dreams about it and writing about it and everything like that but sometimes I also find that if I talk about an experience or a project while I’m doing it, it makes it too intellectual and it all of a sudden doesn’t become a part of my fantasy life. It makes it like a real thing and it could be detrimental. It can be really problematic. I don’t ever like to articulate while I’m doing a job what the intentions of the character is or what’s going on with her with the other characters or anything like that because then it almost becomes something outside of myself.
HW: So what roles do movies and entertainment have in your life?
BDH: Well, I’m a huge fan of films and I’ll talk about that incessantly. That’s my favorite thing to do is to go to the movies with my husband and my friends and stay at home and watch old movies and read books on films of the ’70s and all that kind of stuff. That’s my favorite.
HW: Are you ready to have the Disney DVDs playing on continuous loops?
BDH: Oh, gosh. Well, our plan now is that he’s not going to watch any movies or television really until he’s 2 years old. Then after that point, we’ll kind of see but there are just some great movies that I can’t wait to introduce to him. I’m just so excited.
HW: Are you signed on for the 4th, 5th, and 6th Spider-Man films that have been talked about?
BDH: Well I don’t know if it is happening but if it is I absolutely want to do it. I will do everything in my power to force them to put me in it, no seriously. This was an unbelievable experience, in many ways a life altering experience, and I want to work with these people as much as possible. I hope that it is on another Spider-Man film – that would be great.
