Bryce Dallas Howard.Photo:Sarah Krick
Sarah Krick
WhenBryce Dallas Howardwelcomed her first child, one thing she didn’t expect was paralyzing fear.But bringing her eldest son, now 17, home from the hospital triggered traumatic kidnapping threats from her childhood, she tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.In 2007, “it was a weird time for young women in the business. The relationship with paparazzi and all of that was incredibly fraught for so many people,” says theJurassic Worldtrilogy alum, who also has a 12-year-old daughter with her husband, actorSeth Gabel.“From a protective place after I had my son I withdrew a lot,” continues theArgyllestar, who was also coping with “severe'' postpartum depression at the time. “I was actually scared. I didn’t want to risk potentially triggering something that would mean a different life for my kids. I also grew up in a situation where there were some real security (concerns) and that’s scary as a parent.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Ron Howard and a young Bryce Dallas Howard.Bryce Dallas Howard/instagramIn 1992, Bryce, 42, tells PEOPLE she was targeted as the daughter of actor-director Ron Howard and her novelist mother, Cheryl. After discovering their phones were tapped and suspicious vehicles were monitoring their home in 1992, the family “had to move multiple times,” she says, and ultimately left Los Angeles, with her parents choosing to raise Bryce and her three younger siblings on a farm in Greenwich, Conn.“We picked up the family and left,” Ron toldGraham Bensingerlast year, calling the experience “traumatic.” Ron said it ultimately led him to direct the 1996 movieRansomstarring Mel Gibson. “I had been looking for a project about kidnapping because we’d been through this horrible experience where our home had been targeted," he said. “It’s the only time I’ve really wanted to do a crime story.”Bryce Dallas Howard and Ron Howard in 2020.Emma McIntyre /VF20/GettyThat time period “was definitely very defining for me and it’s one of the reasons why I think I’m risk averse as a person,” Bryce says today. “I don’t really take risks unless I’m working. That’s where I personally am the most kind of daring and bold.”And as a mom of a teen and tween, “I’m not very strict as a parent, but I’ll ask my kids, ‘Do you think I’m strict?’ And they’re like, “No, you’re not. Except when it comes to safety.“Teaching her son to drive, she adds, was not for the faint of heart. “The poor boy, what I put him through,” says Bryce with a laugh. “He basically can be a race car driver at this point because I’m like, “You’re not allowed to get your license until you know how to do every defensive driving move imaginable.“Today Bryce calls herArgyllerole playing an introverted spy novelist who dreams up a glamorous world of intrigue (and is suddenly thrust into it), “probably the closest to me as a person that I’ve played before.”The character’s anxieties — and quest for bravery — fit like a glove. “This movie is so much about her connecting to her power and feeling courageous and overcoming her anxiety and getting out there,” says Bryce. “I think that for me doing this movie felt very empowering.”Argylleis now playing in theaters.For more about Bryce Dallas Howard, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE.
WhenBryce Dallas Howardwelcomed her first child, one thing she didn’t expect was paralyzing fear.
But bringing her eldest son, now 17, home from the hospital triggered traumatic kidnapping threats from her childhood, she tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue.
In 2007, “it was a weird time for young women in the business. The relationship with paparazzi and all of that was incredibly fraught for so many people,” says theJurassic Worldtrilogy alum, who also has a 12-year-old daughter with her husband, actorSeth Gabel.
“From a protective place after I had my son I withdrew a lot,” continues theArgyllestar, who was also coping with “severe'' postpartum depression at the time. “I was actually scared. I didn’t want to risk potentially triggering something that would mean a different life for my kids. I also grew up in a situation where there were some real security (concerns) and that’s scary as a parent.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Ron Howard and a young Bryce Dallas Howard.Bryce Dallas Howard/instagram
Bryce Dallas Howard/instagram
In 1992, Bryce, 42, tells PEOPLE she was targeted as the daughter of actor-director Ron Howard and her novelist mother, Cheryl. After discovering their phones were tapped and suspicious vehicles were monitoring their home in 1992, the family “had to move multiple times,” she says, and ultimately left Los Angeles, with her parents choosing to raise Bryce and her three younger siblings on a farm in Greenwich, Conn.
“We picked up the family and left,” Ron toldGraham Bensingerlast year, calling the experience “traumatic.” Ron said it ultimately led him to direct the 1996 movieRansomstarring Mel Gibson. “I had been looking for a project about kidnapping because we’d been through this horrible experience where our home had been targeted,” he said. “It’s the only time I’ve really wanted to do a crime story.”
Bryce Dallas Howard and Ron Howard in 2020.Emma McIntyre /VF20/Getty
Emma McIntyre /VF20/Getty
That time period “was definitely very defining for me and it’s one of the reasons why I think I’m risk averse as a person,” Bryce says today. “I don’t really take risks unless I’m working. That’s where I personally am the most kind of daring and bold.”
And as a mom of a teen and tween, “I’m not very strict as a parent, but I’ll ask my kids, ‘Do you think I’m strict?’ And they’re like, “No, you’re not. Except when it comes to safety.”
Teaching her son to drive, she adds, was not for the faint of heart. “The poor boy, what I put him through,” says Bryce with a laugh. “He basically can be a race car driver at this point because I’m like, “You’re not allowed to get your license until you know how to do every defensive driving move imaginable.”
Today Bryce calls herArgyllerole playing an introverted spy novelist who dreams up a glamorous world of intrigue (and is suddenly thrust into it), “probably the closest to me as a person that I’ve played before.”
The character’s anxieties — and quest for bravery — fit like a glove. “This movie is so much about her connecting to her power and feeling courageous and overcoming her anxiety and getting out there,” says Bryce. “I think that for me doing this movie felt very empowering.”
Argylleis now playing in theaters.
For more about Bryce Dallas Howard, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE.
source: people.com
