If it’s not the number one question actors have to field from close friends and family members (and random strangers online) on a routine basis, then it has to be up there, at the very least: Could they tell how good or bad a movie they appeared in was going to be while they were making it? Most stars wouldn’t even touch that topic with a 50-foot pole, mind you, given the need to preserve those all-important creative partnerships throughout a tight-knit industry. Or, if they did, you’d receive a perfectly bland response about how everyone involved could sense the magic while on set together. Rarely do you ever see any prominent figures publicly admitting that, yeah, their high-profile bomb pretty much seemed like it would turn out way worse even as the cameras were still rolling. Bryce Dallas Howard isn’t like everyone else, however.

The popular actor-turned-director knows a thing or two about the extremes in this line of work — having starred in the financially successful (though mostly critically reviled) “Jurassic World” movies, while also appearing in a few big swings and misses along the way. That’s just the cost of doing business, of course, despite countless creatives who’ve had a tough time reconciling reality versus their expectations. Howard isn’t sweating it, though, as she proves in a remarkably honest profile over at The Independent.

Coming off last year’s spy comedy/thriller “Argylle” and its lackluster theatrical run, it’d be understandable if Howard wanted to put that behind her with her upcoming appearance in the Prime Video movie “Deep Cover.” Naturally, that sort of disappointment would bother anyone, especially someone who grew up under the tutelage of her famous father, director Ron Howard … right? Wrong. During the interview, Howard admitted that she could see certain flops coming from a mile away and didn’t lose any sleep over it. Without actually naming any specific movies she was a part of (like “Argylle” or, perhaps, M. Night Shyamalan’s “The Lady in the Water”), she stated:

“You can always see it coming while you’re making it. I’ve never been shocked when something doesn’t work.”

It might seem like poor sportsmanship to come right out and claim that certain flops were quite self-evident throughout the filmmaking process, but Bryce Dallas Howard is on to something here. Not only does her candor feel incredibly refreshing, but she goes on to make a larger point about the key difference in responsibility between acting in a certain production and directing it. As someone with experience on both sides of the camera, particularly from her directing work on “Star Wars” streaming shows such as “Skeleton Crew” and “The Mandalorian,” Howard has come to realize exactly how much success or failure truly rides on her shoulders as an actor. As she explains:

“But I’m just an actor — you’re there to serve a director’s vision. If a movie doesn’t turn out the way that you envisioned, you can barely feel disappointed because it’s not yours. You’re not the person who’s building the thing.”

In an industry full of egos as big as (if not bigger than) any given room, I simply can’t overstate how healthy of a perspective this is to have — or how rare it is. As long as she shows up every day, puts the work in, and does her job as a performer, the rest of the results are entirely out of her hands. This mindset has clearly served her well, but it’s one that actually has its roots in a legend of moviemaking. Later in the same interview, she recalls how Ron Howard struggled with this very same issue as a director, following the poor reception of his 1992 film “Far and Away” starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. According to Howard, none other than Clint Eastwood gave her father some sage words of advice:

“He said, ‘Ronnie — a career is like a season of television. You’ve got 24 episodes, some of the episodes are going to be bad, some are going to be serviceable, maybe a little forgettable, and maybe five of those episodes are going to be really strong and last.”

Something tells us we just missed out on an all-timer Eastwood impression. Luckily, the rest of the profile at The Independent is well worth reading in full. As for Howard, she has “Deep Cover” scheduled to hit Prime Video on June 12, 2025.