Ron Howard refused to allow his daughter Bryce Dallas Howard to become a child star
The 70-year-old director - who has been married to Cheryl Alley since 1975 - recalled that Bryce, 43, had hopes of breaking into showbiz when she was a child but he always insisted that she focused on her education instead before she followed in his footsteps
12 February 2025
Speaking as part of a panel at MegaCon in Orlando Florida, he explained: "She would ask about [acting], and my wife Cheryl and I would say, 'No, we can't let you be a child actor.
"We didn't have the bandwidth to do what my parents did, which is really supervising ... And plus I felt like that the Opie mythology was a little bit tough, you know, too much to ask a kid to face as a child performer.
"As a student, Bryce was unbelievable. She did every show, every summer program, and by the time she was, I don't know, 14 or 15, I could see that she could be a professional anytime she wanted to be.
"And yet we didn't still didn't allow it, and she kept learning, and she's never stopped learning, and now she's carried that into directing."
As an actress, Bryce had small roles in 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas' and 'Parenthood' before getting her big break with 'Book of Love' in 2004.
She has since carved out a career as a director, having been at the helm of projects such as Disney+ series 'The Mandalorian', and Ron explained that he is proud of how his daughter has followed her path for "the right reason".
He said: "The thing I love is that Bryce is into this for the right reason. She loves the process and she loves the audience.
"It's something from my grandfather that we always say to each other, which is: 'You know where to kick it - kick it in the a**!"
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