Ron Howard reveals he watched his daughter perform naked in a college play
Ron Howard has discussed the experience of watching his daughter, Bryce Dallas Howard, perform naked during a college play.
The 69-year-old filmmaker said that he attended the show only to find out during the performance that she was largely nude throughout. He has described it as an “assault on a father’s psyche”.
He spoke about the experience on In Depth with Graham Bensinger and claimed he went to the show not knowing what to expect but “within seven or eight minutes into the show, nobody had any clothes on,” including his own daughter.
Bryce Dallas Howard’s grandfather was also in attendance, as the former Happy Days actor Ron Howard explained: “It was experimental theatre. And I was sitting next to my dad—I wasn’t sure what he would think.”
However, at the close of the show, his grandfather confirmed that he was a fan of the performance. “When it was over,” Ron Howard recalled, “he turned to me, and he said: ‘I think that’s just great. That’s what college is all about. She’s never going to be afraid onstage again’.”
He then added that although he was aware that the play featured nudity he was unaware of the full extent. I knew there was nudity. “I didn’t realize it was full-body, nonstop,” he added. “It was a complete assault on a father’s psyche. It was quality. But it was bold.” He did not reveal whether Bryce Dallas was aware that he would be attending with her grandfather.
His daughter has since gone on to star in the likes of The Help and Jurassic World: Dominion, and Ron Howard claims that he recognised her potential in the play. “I saw that she could do it,” he stated. “[I was] proud of her but a little terrified because the business is so much tougher for women than it is for men.”
Concluding: “I dreaded the fact that she was going to have the talent to really be able to make a run at it.”
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