Bryce Dallas Howard in New York City, on December 10, 2009.
Photo by Carla Hay.
Photo by Carla Hay.
Sure, Megan Fox gets a lot of media attention for her role in the blockbuster "Transformers" movie series. But when it comes to being part of a blockbuster movie franchise, the most interesting young actress to watch is Bryce Dallas Howard. That’s because she’s part of not just one but three movie series that make billions at the box office: "Spider-Man," "Terminator" and "Twilight." (And unlike sex symbol Fox, no one questions Howard’s acting talent.) In 2007’s "Spider-Man 3," Howard played Gwen Stacy, the third wheel in the love triangle between Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson. In 2009’s "Terminator Salvation," Howard was Kate Connor, wife of "Terminator" hero John Connor. And in "Twilight Saga: Eclipse," Howard steps into the role of Victoria, the evil vampire who seeks revenge on lovebirds Bella Swan and Edward Cullen.
For the first time since her controversial casting as Victoria in "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," Howard (who replaced Rachelle Lefevre, who originated the role in 2008's "Twilight" and reprised the character in 2009's "The Twilight Saga: New Moon") is publicly speaking out about "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," which completed filming this year and arrives in theaters in June 2010. In July 2009, Lefevre was notoriously fired from "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse" due to scheduling conflicts with another movie Lefevre had committed to doing. Lefevre was immediately replaced by Howard, leading to a mixed reaction from die-hard "Twilight" fans, as well as a back-and-forth "she said/they said" public feud between Lefevre and Summit Entertainment, the film studio behind the "Twilight" movie series.
While in New York City to promote her independent film "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond" (written by the late Tennessee Williams), I sat down with Howard on December 10 at a roundtable interview, and she was refreshingly candid about a number of things. I had to ask her about "The Twilight Saga: Eclipse," and she opened up about her experience doing the movie and she gave her perspective on all the controversy surrounding her casting in "Eclipse." She also addressed rumors of her involvement in "Spider-Man 4" (which is due out in 2011), and any future "Terminator" films. The full interview with Howard (in which she talks about "The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond" and working with director Gus Van Sant on producing her first movie) will be published later this month. But in the meantime, here’s what she had to say about the trio of blockbuster movie franchises in which she’s played very memorable roles.
Is your Gwen Stacy character going to have a big role in "Spider-Man 4"?
I don’t know. It was really made clear to me when we did "Spider-Man 3" that it was entirely possible that a character could come back or a character could not. This could be just a specific plot to that film, because there are so many stories in the comic-book series, if you want to pack in as much as possible. It’s up to ["Spider-Man" director] Sam [Raimi] and the writers and the people who have done such an amazing job protecting that franchise and choosing the best storylines for the audiences. I’m a fan first. I had an incredible time working with them, but what I want more than anything is just for that franchise to continue to kick butt and to really appease the really, really, loyal fans, including myself.
Have you been approached to do "Spider-Man 4"?
No. I haven’t. There’s no disappointment because it’s exciting … what’s happening to that franchise. I’m just happy that there’s going to be two more ["Spider-Man" movies]. During the third ["Spider-Man" movie], there was a question. And after it came out, it was pretty clear that people were really supportive of the franchise. I’m really stoked that it’s continuing on.
McG says that he wants to direct more "Terminator" movies. If he does, would you be on board for that?
Oh, yeah! I haven’t signed anything that would obligate them to me or me to them or anything like that, because that film ["Terminator Salvation"] was made with a lot of humility. We’ll do this one, the fact that we can, and if people ask for more, then they ask for more. But it’s an incredible group. We are all fiercely committed to the story. It’s "Terminator," for Christ’s sake. If it comes about, and if I should be so lucky that they invite me back, I would be loathe to walk away from that.
Will you play Victoria in "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn"?
I don’t want to give anything away, but "Victoria has a life span," is what I’ll say. [She laughs.] That’s all I can say about that.
Can you talk about your experience in joining the "Twilight" franchise?
I was really struck by what an incredible group of young people are in that franchise. Their friendships are so genuine, and they really ground each other. And there is a lot going on around them. There’s a lot of attention and scrutiny, but I’m truly moved by how solid they’ve remained in their values and belief systems and their caring of one another throughout all of that. You hope for that in a franchise.
Part of the reason to come back together is to tell a story but also to come back together because everyone genuinely enjoys working with one another. And it was a really, really positive experience for that reason — other than set aside the fact that I’ve read the ["Twilight"] books and loved the books from the very beginning and these characters are extraordinary. It’s such an absorbing story that I just felt very lucky, given the unfortunate circumstances surrounding it, that I was just invited in. I hope that "Eclipse" continues this trend of being really reverent of what ["Twilight" book series author] Stephenie [Meyer] created with the books.
What advice would you have for an actor who is doing a role that was previously played by someone else? A lot of people thought you handled yourself well in the controversy over your "Eclipse" casting.
We’ll see. The jury is still out, because Rachelle [Lefevre] really created an incredible character and is exquisite. I fell like the uproar that occurred was really appropriate, because part of the joy of seeing a franchise, it’s almost like a television series. You’ve seen the actors grow with the franchise. And [Lefevre’s] unavailability [to do "Eclipse"] was really, really, really unfortunate. Advice? Gosh. Just to do your best and be über-respectful. She won that role for a reason. I hope to honor everything that she created.
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I am looking forward to seeing her in Eclipse. She is a great actress and I love her face!
To read more details esepecially regarding the question that brought up the confusion of Victoria being in Breaking dawn, click here.
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