Jurassic World: Dominion Star Bryce Dallas Howard Reveals She Was Pressured to Lose Weight Before Filming

When it comes to major movies and franchises, Bryce Dallas Howard is known for her work in front of and behind the camera. Howard’s first starring role was back in 2004 in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village, and she has gone on to appear in Spider-Man 3, Terminator Salvation, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, all of the Jurassic World movies, and much more. These days, Howard is also becoming known for her directing, having helmed some of the best episodes of both The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. In fact, many fans have been calling for her to direct her own Star Wars trilogy. Despite Howard’s long history with Hollywood, she’s still getting some offensive requests. During a recent interview with Metro for Jurassic World: Dominion, Howard revealed that she was asked to lose weight for the threequel. 

Metro asked Howard what she hopes Jurassic World: Dominion will mean for women’s representation in action movies, and Howard replied, “What being in this third film allowed, how do I say this, how do I say this, how do I say this… [I’ve] been asked to not use my natural body in cinema.” She added, “On the third movie, it was actually because there were so many women cast, it was something that Colin [Trevorrow] felt very strongly about in terms of protecting me… because the conversation came up again, ‘We need to ask Bryce to lose weight,’ he was like, ‘There are lots of different kinds of women on this planet and there are lots of different kinds of women in our film’ and I got to do so many stunts that wouldn’t have been possible if I had been dieting.”

Howard added, “So I’m really thrilled [at] all the action I got to do, and I got to do it with my body, she was at her maximum strength, and I hope it is just yet another indication of what’s possible.” 

Howard’s co-star, DeWanda Wise (Kayla Watts) chimed in with her own experience. 

“It’s always something,” Wise added. “There was a lot of resistance to Kayla having muscle, to what it means to be a woman, look like a woman. It’s just every side, it’s relentless and impossible. There’s so many of us! Actually, we’re half of the population! Howard added, “And in this movie, there were more women than men. These are numbers and scenarios [that are] at this point uncommon still, and just normalizing that…”

Wise continued, “They introduce these heroines who aren’t perfect. There’s a story there, a sense you can be heroic even if you don’t feel heroic. I’m interested in the future of action and blockbusters really allowing women to be the entire human beings that we are.”

Jurassic World: Dominion is out on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD, and available on Peacock.