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The Hidden Messages in "Water"
Bryce Dallas Howard shares a glimpse into the mysteries of M. Night Shyamalan's latest supernatural drama
"So, um...what's the twist?" Boxoffice asks Bryce Dallas Howard in an overly-casual manner that doesn't fool the "Lady in the Water" star for a moment. Though Howard takes care not to give away the M. Night Shyamalan-brand left-hook surprise in the director's latest film (following "The Village," Howard's feature debut), she does offer a glimpse of her character, a not-quite-human woman who has taken up residence in an apartment complex's pool -- to the dismay of the building's superintendent (Paul Giamatti).
BOXOFFICE: So you're a mermaid in an apartment complex swimming pool. Just how does that come to pass?
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD: The character's name is Story, and she's actually closer to what you'd think a water nymph would look like than a mermaid. She doesn't have a tail. She has her legs. [M.] Night [Shyamalan] created this whole folklore that's really quite fascinating. And in this folklore, a character called a Narf comes to Earth for a particular reason, and then somehow needs to get home, and there's a window of time in which she can get home. And it's very dangerous, because there are creatures that are after her. And all the people in the apartment complex join together to bring her home.
BOXOFFICE: A "narf," you say? I take it that's a Night original.
BDH: Yes. Exactly. He originally created this story for his two little girls as a bedtime story. The day that he offered me the part, I was with his family, and he said that he wanted me to play The Lady in "The Lady in the Water." And I got really emotional. And then he turned to his oldest child and said, "She's going to be the Narf!" And she was like, "Oh! She'll be good!" [laughs]
BOXOFFICE: So what is Story like?
BDH: She's quite mystical. Because she's not from this world, she behaves almost like an animal. There's a line in the trailer -- so I'm not giving anything away -- where they say, "My god, she has an animal's eyes." She seems to be almost part animal, part human. She looks relatively like a human being. She could pass as a human being. But there's something different about her.
BOXOFFICE: Paul Giamatti brings so much to his roles, whether it's knee-slapping humor or profound gravitas. What was it like to play opposite him?
BDH: He's fantastic. What I love about Paul is that he's ridiculously talented, ridiculously intelligent and well-read, and he's hilariously self-deprecating. That's what he makes his entire day about -- it's a series of jokes at his own expense. [laughs] Only someone who is that talented can get away with that. He's so charismatic, and he plays the everyman, but he's a star. He's a movie star. Everyone knows he's a transformational actor. That he absolutely transforms to fit the part that he's playing. [In "Lady in the Water"], he creates this unbelievably heartbreaking character. He has this quality that you need to watch him, and I think that's the quality that movie stars have.
BOXOFFICE: And how does Story's relationship with Paul Giamatti's character, Cleveland Heep, affect her?
BDH: The thing about this film is that it's...it's innocent. And, like a bedtime story, it does have a moral. So I think that's what happens to both of the characters. They're both on these separate journeys in life; they both have these separate obstacles, separate fears. And then when they come together -- and only when they come together -- can they really see how to overcome their fears and have the courage to do so.
BOXOFFICE: I like that all the tenants in the apartment complex get involved. That's something you wish would happen in real life!
BDH: I know!
BOXOFFICE: Except without the monsters.
BDH: Exactly! Except without the monsters. But it does though. It isn't until some kind of an emergency happens that people really join together, but human beings have a great capacity to rise to the occasion and to nurture one another and protect one another, even if they're strangers. I was living in an apartment building in New York during 9/11, and everybody was just there for one another. And then also here in Los Angeles, there was once a fire in the apartment building I live in. And everyone -- everyone -- we were working as a unit. We were working as a team. And we didn't know each other's names, but we were just there to protect one another. When moments like that happen in life, it reminds you of the potential of humanity -- what we could actually do if we all join together. And I think that's one of the themes of this film, certainly.
BOXOFFICE: So do all your friends try to trick you into revealing plot twists?
BDH: Um...sure. [laughs] But a lot of my friends are avid moviegoers, and they love the experience of going to a film not knowing anything, and watching it for the first time. Whether or not the film has a twist or it doesn't, or it's just a [straightforward narrative]. When I browse the internet and I see "Caution -- Spoiler" [warnings], I'm just like, "Why are they there? Why are these people ruining the experience of seeing something freshly?" So a lot of my friends -- they joke about that, but at the end of the day, they really respect that, and they have reverence for the fact that it's secretive not because we don't want to reveal anything, but it's secretive rather because we want each person to have their own individualistic experience with the film.
BOXOFFICE: Of course. You have to ask, but you'd hate it if you actually found out.
BDH: Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly! It's kind of like when I was seven years old, and I [asked my dad], "Is Santa Claus real?" [laughs] All I wanted him to say was "Yes, Santa Claus is real." But he was like, "No." I went, "NOOOOOO!" [laughs] But I think it's important to express that...of course it's an M. Night Shyamalan film, but he's really exploring a different kind of genre, and therefore the structure needs to support that. So the last thing I want is for people to be going into this film with expectations based on the past. I want them to come and see this film with fresh eyes. There are many, many, many twists and turns throughout the entire film, but it's very different than Night's other films, is what I'll say.
BOXOFFICE: Night seems to be a genre unto himself. What is he like as a person, and what is he like as a director?
BDH: Person and director, equally amazing. He's a fascinating man. He has the ability to meet someone for the first time and kind of, like, look into their soul. [laughs] And completely figure out exactly how they tick. And that works very well for directing, because he has the ability to immediately know if you're being truthful or untruthful. As an actor, I cannot be fake when I'm with M. Night Shyamalan. I just can't fake it. And if I ask, he knows exactly how to guide me back to a place that is truthful. He's a very, very powerful filmmaker, and he's a very powerful director to work with as an actor.
BOXOFFICE: Do you turn to your father [director/actor Ron Howard] for acting tips?
BDH: No, never for acting tips. In the moment, I turn to my director for acting tips. But as far as education about the business, about my career, things like that, absolutely.
BOXOFFICE: I read that you had said you didn't know your father was a celebrity until you moved to Los Angeles.
BDH: That's a slight misquote. It's that I didn't know the extent of it. I knew that people were always overly-friendly to him, and people would come up to him and say, "I loved you in 'Happy Days,'" or "I loved this film or that film," but I didn't realize till I got to Los Angeles that he was, like, a big-time Hollywood player. That he carried the weight that he does in the business.
BOXOFFICE: What was the pivotal experience demonstrating that?
BDH: I would go in for meetings at casting offices when I first moved here three years ago, and everyone would say, "Oh, yeah, your dad is so great -- I just had a meeting with him yesterday; there's this project that I'm trying to get to him," and I was just like, "My god!"
BOXOFFICE: Prior to "The Village," your film credits were the "Surprised Who" in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Launch Onlooker" in "Apollo 13." What was it like to make the jump to the lead in an event picture?
BDH: You know what? It could have been very terrifying. But Night made me feel so confident. I thought, "This amazing filmmaker will not let me fail." And I cannot emphasize enough how much that performance was created by him. And it's the same exact thing in "Lady in the Water." I just show up. I'm the vessel for what he wants to create.
"Lady in the Water." Starring Paul Giamatti and Bryce Dallas Howard. Directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan. Produced by Sam Mercer and M. Night Shyamalan. A Warner Bros. release. Supernatural drama. Opens 7/21.
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