Original-Cin Q&A: Dads director Bryce Dallas Howard recalls Ron's advice not to make a 'Bryce-loves-her-dad' doc
Bryce Dallas Howard is the first to admit she hit the gene jackpot. Her dad is of course famed actor and director Ron Howard, one of the most beloved Hollywood figures.
Bryce, an accomplished actress herself, is now making her feature directorial debut, with the documentary Dads. She offers an intimate look at the dads in her own family, including remarkable interviews with her late grandfather Rance, her father Ron and her brother Reed.
Our Bonnie Laufer spoke with Bryce about the film, which debuted last September at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Ron Howard and his actress/director daughter Bryce Dallas Howard.
Dads begins streaming on Apple TV+ on Friday June 10th - just in time for Father’s Day
ORIGINAL-CIN: Your new documentary, Dads premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last September with a wonderful screening and standing ovation from the audience. You must have just been so thrilled, especially with this being your feature film directorial debut.
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD: “That was awesome and so overwhelming. That night at TIFF and getting to share the film for the first time is something I will never forget. I have to admit, about 24 hours before the screening, I started panicking because all I could think of was, ‘What have I done? The film opens with my birth!’ I have spent my entire life trying to not upset anyone or whatever, and then I opened this documentary with my birth! (Laughs).”
OC: Yeah, that’s definitely a great way to start a film and get everyone’s attention!
HOWARD: “Right? Pretty bold of me I must say! (Laughs). It was such a great experience and getting to have my dad there was the icing on the cake.
“We all know Canadians are the best, so it was the perfect place to show the film. I was initially very scared and super worried and then to have that warm reception was such a wonderful moment in my life and such a relief, honestly.”
OC: I don't think you could have had better role models than your father Ron and your grandfather Rance. When you decided to do this, what was Ron's initial reaction because I would think that he might have been a bit hesitant.
HOWARD: “My dad was really concerned about me doing this, because I'm a very enthusiastic person and I love my parents and I'm very vocal about that.
“My dad is always saying to me, ‘Bryce I'm gonna get knocked off that pedestal one day, and it's going to be a brutal fall.’ Now that you're 39 years old, no one is going to want to see the Bryce-loves-her-dad movie, so please don't please don't do that.”
OC: Well, it is clear that you and your siblings have a very close bond with your parents, but it is so much more than a Bryce loves her dad film.
HOWARD: “I felt that there's so much story to tell, even without the Howard family and that is why I decided to pursue this. There are so many great dads out there and I wanted to shine the spotlight on that.
“Also, I really wanted to have an expectant father in the film. And then when my brother and his wife got pregnant, I was, like, ‘Well, hello, here's my expectant father. It was more organic. It just made sense and my dad was ultimately supportive of it.
“I have to tell you that after the TIFF screening he was over the moon. I've never seen him so excited in my entire life, but he did say, ‘I still think I'm in the movie too much.’” (Laughs).
OC: Let’s talk about some of the fathers that you highlight in the film. You had a few celebrity dads like Jimmy Fallon, Jimmy Kimmel and Will Smith talk about their dad experiences. But you really focus on some pretty amazing everyday dads who ultimately we can all relate to. Was it hard for you to find a balance or did it just end up flowing naturally?
HOWARD: “Oh gosh. No. When I first came up with the idea I really wanted to interview stand-up comedians and for them to be our anchors in the film.
“I didn’t want to get into their lives, showing pictures of their kids and all that kind of stuff. But I truly wanted them to speak to the universal experience of being a father, but from their own perspective.
“Then I wanted to dive into the daddy-blogger community and find fathers who were already capturing and sharing their stories and their family stories.”
OC: As you found out while doing the research for the doc there is a huge daddy-blogger community out there.
HOWARD: “Exactly. I had no idea what i was getting myself into! The thing that I should say is that I was initially surprised by this. There were so many remarkable hero fathers and so many great comedians as well. The hardest part was narrowing it down honestly because every person that was telling their story was so amazing and deserved to be celebrated.
“So it's that balance that was really important for me. The thing that was kind of the wild-card was the Howard family storyline and not over-saturating the documentary with that. But all in all, I think we managed to even everything out and had a great time doing it.”
OC: After it was all completed, did you learn something about yourself and your own husband as a dad?
HOWARD: “Absolutely. It's really interesting because my journey of becoming a mother was like a form of an identity crisis. You are becoming something new that never existed before.
“With that process, as isolating as it can feel, I still had a rite of passage. I was still acknowledged for being the primary caregiver for my children, when the reality was that my husband was just as involved as I was if not more.
“I think realizing the lack of public acknowledgement and the assumption that anything great that my kids were doing was because of me not because of us. They were my kids rather than our kids, and it was just very eye-opening in that regard.
“It made me think about a lot of things like, ‘Why didn't I have a baby shower for you Seth?’ Sure, I got to push the baby out. Give me a pat on the back for sure, but don't ignore YOU.
“We are in this together, and dads should get so much more acknowledgement than they sometimes do. I hope that people will take that away as well after watching the film.”