Bryce Dallas Howard Says This Famous Costar Convinced Her to Finally Join Social Media After Being a ‘Holdout for a Long Time’ (Exclusive)
Bryce Dallas Howard Says This Famous Costar Convinced Her to Finally Join Social Media After Being a ‘Holdout for a Long Time’ (Exclusive)
Erin Clack, Amanda Champagne-MeadowsSat, September 26, 2026 at 10:30 AM UTC
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Bryce Dallas Howard at Variety’s Power of Women event in Los Angeles on Sept. 23, 2026Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty -
Bryce Dallas Howard caught up with PEOPLE exclusively at Variety’s 2026 Power of Women event on Sept. 23
She revealed that one of her famous costars convinced her to finally join social media after being “a holdout for a long time”
Howard also shared that deciding what to put in her bio led her “down a bit of an existential rabbit hole”
Bryce Dallas Howard says she finally joined social media after being “a holdout for a long time” — and it was one of her famous costars who convinced her to take the plunge.
The Deep Cover actress, 45, caught up with PEOPLE exclusively at Variety’s 2026 Power of Women event in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 23, and reflected on the upcoming 10th anniversary of her unforgettable Black Mirror guest role. Howard appeared in the Netflix sci-fi anthology series’ Oct. 21, 2016, episode, titled “Nosedive,” which is set in a dystopian near-future where people can rate each other from one to five stars using their smartphones. Her character, Lacie, becomes obsessed with raising her score.
Howard told PEOPLE that it was “really meaningful” for her to be part of that episode at the time because she had just joined social media weeks earlier. “I was a holdout for a long time,” she said, explaining that she finally joined because Chris Pratt, her Jurassic World costar, told her it was “time.”
Bryce Dallas Howard; Chris PrattCredit: Frazer Harrison/Getty; Jamie McCarthy/Getty
“But then it was very helpful [in preparing for the Black Mirror role] because I remember having a little bit of — I was like, ‘What do I put as my descriptor for who I am? Who am I?’ ” she continued. “It leads you down a bit of an existential rabbit hole. And it all comes down to, how healthy is it for us to be aware of being perceived?”
“You know, like spotlight syndrome, where we all think everybody is looking at us,” Howard continued. “Well, social media did kind of shift that, because people sort of are [looking].”
Howard said the episode was also helpful in opening a dialogue with her kids about social media.
“I felt like I had a really amazing advantage as a parent,” she explained. “My kids are 19 and 14, and before there was any conversation about social media, I was like, ‘Mommy has something to show you.’ So the episode did a lot of the work for me.”
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Bryce Dallas Howard in ‘Black Mirror’ on NetflixCredit: David Dettmann/Netflix
Howard shares son Theodore, 19, and daughter Beatrice, 14, with her husband, actor Seth Gabel.
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The actress said her kids had a “very visceral reaction” to seeing “their own mother” in the context of the haunting Black Mirror story.
“So like, okay, so maybe no social media,” she said of their response, adding, “Black Mirror does this in some way, shape or form with all of their episodes. [Co-showrunner] Charlie Brooker is a futurist, and he is thinking about what is potentially ahead. And stories are really good at prepping us collectively, getting us thinking about things, so that when the time comes, we can make a choice that hopefully leads to thriving.”
Bryce Dallas Howard at Variety’s Power of Women event in Los Angeles on Sept. 23, 2026Credit: Gilbert Flores/Variety via Getty
Elsewhere in her conversation with PEOPLE at Wednesday’s event, Howard shared how she regains her power when feeling powerless.
“It’s really weird, it’s a little esoteric,” she said of her ritual, which she learned from Joan Scheckel, a directing and acting teacher. “I tap my feet, and I try to connect to the waters that are rushing underneath the crust of the Earth. Literally. I just try to get centered and connect a little bit to just the power of the core of the Earth.”
Howard explained that when she feels powerless and “super vulnerable,” she needs to “connect with something way bigger than” her. “How about the waters? Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep in this planet,” she said. “I know, that’s so weird. I do that before a take [on set] or something, too.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
