Bryce Dallas Howard laughs at the suggestion that with her career decision, it is like father, like daughter. The comparison to her dad — actor-turned-director Ron Howard (“Apollo 13,” “The Da Vinci Code”) — came from her discussion of how now she’s finding more enjoyment being behind the camera.
“I am still going to [be] acting, hopefully, until the day I die. But, about a year ago, I made a shift to directing full-time. I have been absolutely focused on my directing schedule,” Howard says. “If something works in terms of an opportunity that I would really want pursue as an actor, I would do it.”
Before Howard made the artistic shift with her career, she starred in “Rocketman” playing Elton John’s mother, Sheila Farebrother. The feature film, on DVD and Blu-ray now, uses the memorable songs of Elton John to tell the story of the singer-songwriter’s life and career. Taron Egerton (“Kingsman: The Secret Service”) handles the task of portraying the larger-than-life entertainer.
If Howard ends up turning her back on acting, she already has accumulated a long list of acting credits that include “Terminator Salvation,” “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,” “Spider-Man 3,” “The Help” and two “Jurassic World” offerings. “Rocketman” marks the first time Howard has played a character that’s a real, historical person.
Just because the role is based in reality didn’t make the acting process any different than past performances for Howard.
“I treat all of my characters as if they are real people,” Howard says. “I remember Katherine Waterston, when we were 18 and at NYU together, while she took my headshots that she gave me some really great advice. She said for someone who is not super into posing in front of the camera, what you should do is go through the iconic, inspiring women in history and inhabit that.
“That left an impression on me and now with every character I play, I like to identify someone — or a couple of people — who would have the attributes for playing the role.”
Howard took what she discovered as she heavily researched Sheila Farebrother and mixed that with the heightened fantasy elements of “Rocketman” to come up with the iconic woman with which she could borrow attributes to do the role — Elizabeth Taylor. That was based on the fact Elton John and Taylor had a long friendship and their age difference would have sparked a mother-son kind of connection between the superstars.
If there were any doubts about how to play the role, Howard knew that there was always another source since “Rocketman” is based on the story of someone who is still around in Elton John. That fact made every moment working on the film for Howard feel like she was being supported as authentically as possible.
Howard was familiar with major musical hits by Elton John, such as his work on “The Lion King” animated film, but never considered herself to be a big fan. She realized once she work started on “Rocketman” that she was a far bigger Elton John fan that she had previously thought.
“When I got this role and started listening to the music I was like ‘Oh my gosh, I think I know everything.’ That was a little bit shocking but shows you just how much a part of the culture his and Bernie’s (Taupin) music is,” Howard says. “Literally, it is in the background of every restaurant I am going into and eating. It’s in the taxi cab. It’s in the train station.
“It’s like everyone adores Elton John. There’s a legacy that has expanded into our collective unconscious and we are not even aware of it anymore.”
Her epiphany about Elton John’s music made working on “Rocketman” even more of a pleasure because she got a bigger appreciation of how the film shows the history of where all of his body of work started.
“Rocketman” was Howard’s last work in front of the camera — at least for now. As for working behind the camera, Howard’s directing debut comes at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival that runs Sept. 5-15. Her documentary about fatherhood, “Dads,” looks at parenting issues through comedians and includes an interview with her father.
Howard also has directed an episode of the upcoming television series “The Mandalorian” that’s based on the “Star Wars” franchise and will be available on Disney+. Howard was concerned after making her decision to change direction, but filming on “Rocketman” wrapped up just before she had to begin all of the preparations for directing the TV show. Everything seemed to fall into place.
And, if she needs any tips, all she has to do is call her father, who directed “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”
“He is an incredible father and a great one to go to for advice. It is funny that I have lived my life trying not to be in his shadow and I make my directing debut with these two projects right out of the box,” Howard said
First Published: August 29, 2019, 4:00 a.m.
