Bryce Dallas Howard on Acting in “Jurassic World”
Over 100 days and 40,000 COVID tests later, filming for Jurassic World: Dominion, the final installment of the Jurassic World series, has come to a close. To reflect on this triumphant experience, Nine Muses Entertainment Founder Bryce Dallas Howard answers fan questions about working on the franchise.
Questions have been edited and condensed for clarity. Potential spoilers below!
1. What props did they use in place of the special effects dinosaurs for filming Jurassic World: Dominion and what impact does working with digital dinos versus animatronics have?
My favorite thing about working on a Jurassic movie is getting to work with animatronic dinosaurs and puppeteers. It’s such an ancient art form that when applied brilliantly, continues to tell stories in profound ways. Giant movies like Jurassic and Star Wars represent the intersection of thousands and thousands of years of different art forms, and it’s exhilarating to be part of something both timeless and groundbreaking.
In terms of impact, animatronics not only make the process more affordable, but also bring so much realism to every single scene. I’ll never forget working on the Apatosaurus death scene in the first Jurassic World — all I had to do was react to this majestic being before me.
When there isn’t an animatronic dinosaur, there are mocap (motion capture) artists and performers in suits who get to embody creatures and beings of all universes (see an example from Jurassic World below). In addition to acting as a reference for visual effects and an eye line for actors, these performers bring so much of the energy that is needed for a scene and make it so we can feelthe threat of the dinosaur. For all my theatre lovers reading this, remember those acting classes where you had to pretend to be an animal? That’s what this is — multiplied by one hundred — and it’s epic.
Worst case scenario, the dinosaur is a piece of tape or a tennis ball, but hey, that’s what acting is about!
Question from Alex S. and Georgia K.
2. Knowing that you work with a lot of things that “aren’t there,” what’s the weirdest thing you had to do on set?
All the time on movie sets, actors will remind one another how incredibly absurd our profession is. What I say to acting students — and I say this with so much love for what I do — is that they need to be really comfortable with feelings of embarrassment, mortification, and shame because so much of our job is about owning the strangeness and silliness of putting on a show. Exhibit A: me taking selfies with a “Triceratops.”
From Tim L.
3. What was it like working in a pandemic?
Like one giant sleepover! Except at this sleepover you couldn’t leave the house — ha!
It was definitely hard to be away from home and my family, but one of the joys of this bubble experience was getting to be our own Jurassic family with rituals like sharing home cooked meals, trading skincare product recommendations, and singing songs and playing music (you can watch Sam Neill & Jeff Goldblum’s delightful musical sessions here). To be quarantined with Laura Dern and DeWanda Wise for one hundred consecutive days is something I didn’t realize I needed in life, and I am so grateful to now have that bond with them.
Outside of the hotel experience, Jurassic World: Dominion was really a test case for blockbuster-scale production protocol for the near future. If you’re interested in a more technical breakdown of what life looked like on set, The New York Times has a great write up about this, which you can read here.
You might think that the urgency and stress around COVID made life on set hectic, but what I will say is that under the masterful leadership of our director Colin Trevorrow, we didn’t let the urgency of external circumstances drive our process. We were extremely careful, took more time to prepare, and opened up channels of communication that weren’t there before — all in an effort to make sure that people felt physically and emotionally safe.
I can confidently say that this was a filming experience unlike any other and I’m glad we were able to safely continue working. As Dr. Ian Malcolm said in the original Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way,” and we certainly did.
Question from S.S.
4. Do you do your own stunts? If so, what preparation and special training did you do for those physical scenes?
My bruises say yes, but I get a lot of help :)
A huge part of my job as an actor in an action film is being able to perform stunts safely, take after take and day after day, without injury. I’ve always been a pretty active and athletic person, so I’m incredibly drawn to opportunities and jobs where I can be physical in my work.
This being said, movies like Jurassic World simply would not be possible without the talents and contributions of stunt performers. In the last twoJurassic World films, I worked with Sarah Lochlan who would run through the choreography and story beat logic with me for all stunts. An example of this is in Fallen Kingdom when I trained with Sarah for many months to prepare for the gyrosphere/ swimming scene. Even though I was physically underwater and in front of the camera, it was Sarah who prepared me and was there every step of the way. And for the stunts that require an extra level of skill because the risk is too high, that’s when the baton gets passed to Sarah (who absolutely kills it).
In the past, there typically weren’t a lot of women-identifying stunt performers (men would just wear wigs), so to be a woman stunt performer is to be a trailblazer. My hope for the future is that more and more women are recognized for their brilliant work as stunt coordinators and performers and receive an Oscar category for Best Stunts (check out this article from Vulture to learn more).
Question from Karen M. and Anahi N.
5. What’s the most valuable thing you learned from playing Claire and her evolution as a character?
I love this question! While the evolution of Claire on screen takes place in three movies, Claire has been a part of my life for most of my 30s and it’s been a gift to embody that journey. I’ve never played a character over the course of many years before (like those who work on television series), so this has been a very unique opportunity as a performer — to age with a character so to speak.
The most valuable thing for me about playing Claire was representing a woman in a position of leadership and the complicated nature of being in that role; there’s moral ambiguity and consequences for every choice, no matter the intention, and how Claire navigated that I found to be fascinating. Characters that are seemingly perfect or try to present as perfect often have a lot to learn about themselves and what I’ve learned from Claire is to let go of self or societal-imposed expectations. (The clearest manifestation of that journey is all in the hair.)
The key for each of the movies is that Claire starts one way and ends another. With the first movie, she started as a morally ambiguous person and ended as someone who recognized the impact of her actions. In the second movie, she reckoned with the fact that though her intentions to right her wrongs were pure and good, they could still lead to dire consequences. And in the third film… well you’ll just have to wait and see!
In her journey, Claire is not always right, but she does whatever it takes to make things right and that’s something I really admire about her. She’s persistent, intelligent, and trustworthy — all traits I hope to exhibit in my life, especially to other girls and women who are told that they are “bossy” or “difficult.” What Claire reminds me is that it’s okay to be assertive and take charge! The most important thing is that I’m willing to admit when I’m wrong and adapt to new circumstances.
And if you’ll indulge me in one sentimental moment: as I’m writing this, I’m feeling such immense gratitude for this character and for all of you who have been a part of Claire’s evolution.
Question from Vitoria V. and Sara M.
BONUS: VELOCI-RAPID FIRE QUESTIONS
Favorite dinosaur and dinosaur name: Brachiosaurus & Little Foot
First reaction when I got the part: I sat down in utter shock and immense euphoria!
Favorite scene: Running from the T-Rex
Favorite line(s): CLAIRE: “So now what do we do?” OWEN: “Probably stay together. For survival.”
One word to describe the third film: EPIC!
