Bryce Dallas Howard remembered a specific preschool incident that prompted her father Ron Howard and mother Cheryl to move their family out of Hollywood.
During an interview on "In Depth with Graham Bensinger," the 42-year-old actress and the 69-year-old director explained why they left Los Angeles and moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, in 1985.
"Apparently, one day, someone — when I was at preschool — they gave me a script to bring home to my dad. I think assuming that maybe then my dad would read it and somehow turn around and be like, ‘Yes! This is the movie I’m doing,’" the "Jurassic Park" star said. "Didn’t quite have that effect.
""I think my parents realized that being raised in Los Angeles, so much of the culture of this city is centered around the entertainment industry. And they sort of didn’t want to raise us in an environment that felt that singular."
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Ron and Cheryl, who married in 1975, share Bryce, twin daughters Jocelyn and Paige, 38, and son Reed, 35.
The Academy Award winner recalled how he and his wife began to see LA as "pretty constricting, emotionally reductive."
"We were hearing stories about kindergarten kids being taunted by other kindergarten kids saying, ‘My dad’s hotter than your dad,’" the "Happy Days" alum said. "Cheryl did not want the kids subjected to that on a regular basis.
"She really began to feel passionate about that, particularly as I also started building a company. But it was a big leap, and it meant a lot of travel time for me. The year we launched Imagine was the year I actually moved out of LA."
Ron and producer Brian Grazer founded the film and television company Imagine Entertainment in November 1985. The "A Beautiful Mind" director remembered how his business partner was always trying to convince him to move back to Los Angeles.
"He would say, ‘We had a terrible earthquake, and you know property prices are really going to crash now that we’ve had this earthquake. This might be the time for you to buy, Ron. And what do you think? Come on back," Ron recalled with a laugh.
Bryce explained that her memories of growing up in Los Angeles were "very limited" due to her young age and because her parents kept her out of the spotlight.
"My parents were very protective. They weren’t bringing me to premieres or anything like that," she said. "When we moved out to the East Coast, I was in nature and I grew up on a ‘farm,’ which was not really a farm. It was just some land with a lot of pets."
Bryce explained that her mother was "very, very focused on creating a childhood that wasn’t a reflection of the privilege that I was being raised in."
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"The Help" actress told Bensinger she and her siblings had chores and that Cheryl believed it was important for children to do "a lot of physical labor, but not for their own means, physical labor in service."
Ron added that Cheryl was "very focused on trying to somehow imbue the kids with an understanding of real value."
While reflecting on the impact that her upbringing had on her, Bryce noted that her mother was preparing her and her siblings to be independent.
"My mom was really strict, and she was strict for good reason," she said. "My parents weren’t going to give us their money. They don’t believe in that. So they knew that, when we were 18, we were going to need to take care of ourselves."
Ron said he was happy with the way he and Cheryl raised their children, saying, "I’m really proud of them and of who they are, the way they live.
"They’re very principled. They’re creative. They’re engaged. They’re good problem solvers. So, I'm really proud of them."
During the interview, Ron recalled a time when he and his late father Rance Howard attended one of Bryce's college plays in which she performed nude.
"Within seven or eight minutes into the show, nobody had any clothes on," he said. "It was experimental theater. And I was sitting next to my dad. You know, I wasn't sure what he would think. And when it was over, he turned to me and he said, 'I think that's just great. That's what college is all about. She's never going to be afraid onstage again.' That's just the way he viewed things. So, he was proud of her, of her courage as an artist."
When asked if he considered not attending the performance, Ron responded, "No, because, first of all, I knew there was nudity.
"I didn't realize it was full-body, nonstop," he added with a laugh. "It was a complete assault on a father's psyche.
"It was quality. But it was bold."
Bryce studied drama at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts for three years before taking a leave of absence to pursue Broadway acting roles. In 2020, the actress returned to finish her degree and graduated 21 years after she first enrolled.
