by Bryce Dallas Howard knows a thing or two about what it takes to make it in Hollywood, and it has nothing to do with being related to the movie director. A brilliant mind.
O jurassic world star, widely known as one of the daughters of Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard and no Academy Award-winning actress Jessica Chastain took to Instagram last week to share an epiphany she had about the entertainment industry when her former classmates — no, not her — graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2003. .
“A message to aspiring artists and fellow dreamers,” begins the post’s lengthy caption. “When I graduated from high school in the spring of ’99, I was totally optimistic about starting my career. When my classmates graduated from college 20 years ago in May, I felt completely different. There was one harsh reality I just wasn’t prepared for: what it *really* takes to ‘make it’ in the entertainment industry.”
For those unfamiliar with Howard’s biography, she took a leave of absence after her third year at NYU to enter the workforce – if you aren’t counting her appearances in four of her father’s films before that point. For the next five years, she starred in M. Night Shalyaman’s The villageyour follow up lady in the waterand Lars Von Trier Manderlay. She finally completed her graduation in 2020.
But just like the rest of his fellow normies, Howard has apparently learned that being an actor is, in fact, very, very difficult.
“My peers and I were lucky enough to attend one of the best acting schools, but there was a huge gap,” Howard continued in his post. “While the school gave us an incredible foundation, we finished our formal training and still feel stuck because we were told our only option was to wait for someone else to hire us. Sound familiar?”
(As an average American, who can’t just walk into a company and declare he has a job there, yes! Does Howard know there’s a “huge gap” between her and most of her colleagues?)
The 42-year-old actress follows up with some career advice she received from her acting grandparents, Frances Howard and Jean Speegle Howard: “To make a consistent living in the entertainment industry, you must become a multi-hyphenate (actor/director/writer) / producer) and create work for you AND your colleagues.”
(Networking! What a concept!)
Kevork Djansezian/Reuters
Howard goes on to write that it is his “mission to empower newcomers with the same strategies they [she’s] observed and practiced”, because “THERE IS a way to ‘get it’”. Presumably, we can expect some sort of Howard MasterClass-type course in the near future.
Listen, I’m not the type of person in online pop culture that makes fun of Howard for somehow being a C-list actress. It is a blockbuster star. I appreciate your contributions to the Twilight Saga and found her controversial high heel run in jurassic world it was really subversive. I even thought she was good at The helpfor God’s sake.
However, I must acknowledge the absurdity of this very goofy post that makes no mention of their nepo-baby privilege and has far too many mentions of “us” and “us” when describing the career trajectory of most actors. Twitter was quick to call Howard out for his voiceless post, labeling his comments as “Absurd” It is pointing out outside her illustrious surname. Many of the comments on her Instagram post are similarly critical.
Leaving aside the obvious disparity between ordinary people and people with wealthy, well-connected parents, there are many other factors that determine one’s success or failure in Hollywood, including race, gender, sexuality, size, etc. Hollywood itself’s current state of failure, with rapidly disappearing shows and soon-to-be AI-generated projects.
I won’t delve into all of this, because Howard’s post is harmless – just reckless. And I’m sure some budding actors would rather get some (albeit very obvious) advice from Howard about community building and “being your own boss” if it’s readily available.
I also know that the internet is equally irritated when actors struggle to deal with their nepotism. Even Twitter favorite Allison Williams’ initially well-received comments about her baby-nepo status have turned a little tiresome. It’s similar to when white people acknowledge their privilege to me, as if I somehow benefit from knowing they are self-aware. Venmo me $10,000 instead!
Still, Howard should have at least anticipated how this post would be perceived. Personally, I think offering a guaranteed “road to success” in an industry that has proven to be anything but meritocracy is downright misleading. But a brief statement addressing the exclusive resources she’s had access to throughout her career would presumably dampen some of the backlash.
Overall, I applaud Howard for somehow overcoming that terrible NAACP campaign she was a part of during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, where she and a bunch of other white celebrities “took responsibility” for racism. You never cease to amaze me!
