How Bryce Dallas Howard Brought Gwen Stacy To Life In Spider-Man 3
https://www.looper.com/1074438/how-bryce-dallas-howard-brought-gwen-stacy-to-life-in-spider-man-3/
BY BLAKE TAYLOR/OCT. 27, 2022 2:06 PM EDTshare
The ecstatic young woman approaches the podium before the crowd, who've gathered in the park to celebrate the day's honoree, abuzz with excitement. The woman speaks into the microphone with zest. "When you're dropping without a parachute or your store's being robbed or your house is on fire, who is it that breaks your fall, puts out the flames, and saves your children?" The crowd happily shouts back, "Spider-Man!" The woman continues with the thrill of someone who has been given a new lease on life, smitten by a casual crush. "Then, let's hear it for your one and only friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!"
The speaker is Gwen Stacy, played by Bryce Dallas Howard, and the ceremony in question is to give Spidey a key to the city in gratitude for his heroics in 2007's "Spider-Man 3." Gwen speaks from experience. After Spider-Man saved her life when a construction beam crashed into a New York City high-rise, Gwen is all-in on the web-slinging superhero.
Howard joined the franchise for its 2007 release; at the time, she was a rising commodity, known mostly for indie films (Lars von Trier's "Manderlay") and disappointing M. Knight Shyamalan films ("The Village," "Lady in the Water"). She would go on to become her own Dwayne Johnson-like franchise Viagra, prepping up later installments of everything from the "Terminator" to "Twilight" to the "Jurassic Park" movies. But first, she set that template by competing with Kirsten Dunst for the attention of Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker in the final Sam Raimi-directed Spider-Man film.
These days, the daughter of Ron Howard is a Star Wars heavyweight, an actor and social media fave. Two decades ago, here's how she broke through with a portrayal of an iconic comic book character.