Coming-off a Screen Actors Guild Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series for Netflix’s Black Mirror, Bryce Dallas Howard returns to the role of Claire Dearing in Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the sequel to the 2015 global megahit Jurassic World.
Her character, Claire, has been irrevocably changed by the disastrous events of three years ago. “In Jurassic World, Claire goes on a very clear arc,” reflects Howard. “You see who she is on the exterior, but you don’t know who she is on the inside. By the end of the first film, you know what this person is really made of and can clearly see who she is.”
While Owen (Chris Pratt) retreated into a life of solitude, Claire has done the complete opposite—creating the Dinosaur Protection Group (DPG), whose mission is to save the dinosaurs remaining on Isla Nublar. “She is still dealing with the fact she needs to take responsibility for everything that happened,” Howard continues. “She made a mistake she can never take back because she was a part of the creation of the Indominus rex; she wrote the check for that. Now the world is a different place because of her actions. She opened Pandora’s Box, and she can never close it again. All that Claire wants to do is be on the right side of history. It’s her cause and mission.”
Howard wanted to imbue her character with layers that are far-too-often absent in female characters in action films. “They will be a damsel in distress or a strong heroic woman, and there’s no in-between. What I love about Claire is that you don’t necessarily like her all the time, but you relate to her; you understand her and believe the fight in her. Getting to play a woman who is determined and focused, while also at times being clumsy and self-righteous, is exciting because that’s a human being.”
As Howard reunited with Pratt, she reflects about his keenest of instincts: “Chris just knows the absolutely most fun thing that can happen in a Jurassic movie. When we’re in a scene together, and I see Chris moving, I’d say, ‘Guys…Chris’ Spidey sense is tingling.’ He knows what he would want to be watching, and we feel like kids when we’re on this movie set. You haven’t experienced fun until you’ve acted opposite Chris Pratt in a Jurassic movie.”
Naturally, Claire’s much discussed style from the first chapter has also changed along with her new world view. “That haircut and the white impeccable suit from the first movie represented a certain kind of person, who Claire was,” sums Howard. “In this film, I wanted to show right away that she is dramatically different. Claire is a sensible, intelligent woman who is well prepared.” She laughs: “I’m now wearing really sturdy boots, and I’m very happy about that.”
In Philippine cinemas June 6, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.