Originally published on 4/11/25

Bryce Dallas Howard, best known for her work in Spider-Man 3 (2007), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Help (2011), Black Mirror (2016), Jurassic World (2015) and Argylle (2024), knows a thing or two about working in Hollywood. She is also the daughter of Ron Howard, who has made more than a few headlines over the years for his work on The Andy Griffith Show (1960 to 1968) and Happy Days (1974 to 1984). Woman’s World recently caught up with Bryce to discuss her relationship with her father and her brand-new Disney+ documentary, Pets. Read on for more. 

Bryce Dallas Howard opens up about her relationship with her father 

Ron and his wife Cheryl have four kids, one of whom is Bryce—and according to her, she learned quite a bit from her father in regards to things like acting and directing. 

“I love my dad. I still have him on a little pedestal because he’s a really, really, good guy,” Bryce, 44, told Woman’s World. “So there are a lot of things that I’ve learned from him and a lot of qualities that I aspire to, like his work ethic, he has integrity and he really cares.” 

“But I would say, if there was one thing I’ve taken from him as a filmmaker, it’s how collaborative he is. He is really brilliant and he has great ideas, but he fundamentally does not believe that he always has to be the person with the best idea. And it’s about understanding how to work collaboratively with a team and everyone together and trying to achieve this goal. And so it’s definitely something I’ve taken away from him.” 

Ron is an executive producer on Bryce’s new documentary, Pets, and she said that seeing his collaborative efforts growing up, and continuing to this day, was a huge reason this film was made. 

“Something that was so cool about Pets was that I had worked with a lot of the folks before on this documentary, Dads,” Bryce explained. “So, I was excited that the editor who worked on Dads, the producers and researchers all got to move into Pets, and that collaboration has been incredibly rewarding. The editor became an executive producer, and someone that I was working with on the first movie became a co-producer on this. Everyone kind of took more of a sense of ownership and I really value that a lot.” 

Bryce Dallas Howard looks back at her career

As mentioned above, Bryce is currently preparing for the April 11, 2025 Disney+ release of the documentary she directed, Pets. It follows people all around the country and showcases just how sweet their relationship with their dogs, cats, birds, pigs, goats and more can be.

“I love pets. I could talk about pets forever and ever. Probably my favorite thing in the world is to watch pet videos and share pet videos and be, like, ‘Oh my God, you have to see this thing. It’s gonna make you cry. It’s gonna make you laugh,’” she said.  “What was interesting was when I was pitching this, what struck me was its universality. In the US, for example, 40 percent of households have a child in that household and 70 percent of households have a pet. And that’s incredible. A lot of people can relate to this very specific experience of, you know, having a family member who is not the same species as you and what that adventure is like.” 

Prior to Pets, Bryce directed Dads in 2019 as well as several Star Wars TV series like The Mandalorian (2019 to 2023), The Book of Boba Fett (2022), and Skelton Crew (2024). 

“Star Wars is incredible. I love Star Wars. And everybody involved in Star Wars, their hearts are in the right place,” Bryce exclaimed. “We’re all kind of tapped into versions of ourselves when we were kids and we were, like, ‘Oh my god, I can’t believe that we’re doing this!’ And so there’s a real, genuine enthusiasm that we all feel when we get to play in that sandbox. It’s just a remarkable kind of very privileged opportunity, and working with [executive producer] Jon Favreau has been such a gift to me.” 

The actress shares what’s next for her

Aside from Pets, Bryce also shared that something else is happening later this year that she is equally excited and nervous about: her kids starting college and high school. 

“I have a child who’s graduating high school, so that’s kind of intense because he’s very family-centered, and the thought of him moving on is definitely existential,” she shared. “My daughter is going to be starting high school this year, so 2025, for myself and my husband, definitely represents a moment of sort of like growing up and stepping into a new era as parents.”  

“​​When you have kids at home, you’re really in charge, but then when they’re adults, you’re not in charge anymore, and nor should you be, but you’re still a family and I still want to see my kids every single day. So how do you rectify that, balance it and create a culture that sustains itself through young adulthood, middle-aged adulthood, and your senior citizen years?” 

Like most parents, though, Bryce is preparing for her oldest son to call her anytime he has a laundry question, and she even recalled a sweet story about a time when her kids thought that was all she did.

“I was doing a movie called Pete’s Dragon when my daughter was two, and we were living in New Zealand,” she began. “One day I was going to work, and she was very upset about this, and she didn’t really understand why I was leaving. And I was, like, ‘I’m going to be going to work. I have my job.’ I could see that she didn’t really understand, so I said, ‘Well, do you know what my job is?’ And she went, ‘Yes.’ I was, like, ‘What?’ and she goes, ‘Laundry.’ I was, like, ‘That is absolutely correct. But today I’m gonna hang out with a dragon.” 

Be sure to check out Bryce Dallas Howard’s latest film, Pets, which is streaming only on Disney+. 

Link to original: https://www.womansworld.com/entertainment/celebrities/bryce-dallas-howard-on-her-dad-ron-howard-exclusive