Ron Howard, 70, reveals WHY he wouldn’t let daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, 43, act as a child

Ron Howard knows a thing or two about the inner workings of Hollywood as he went from child star to acclaimed director.

And it turns out that Ron’s experiences – dating back to the 1960s, when he played Opie Taylor on The Andy Griffith Show at the age of six – helped him and his wife avoid encouraging their own children to pursue the to enter the acting world.

Because of this tough attitude, the couple’s eldest child, Bryce Dallas Howard, now 43, didn’t get her start on screen until age 22 when she played Rosalind in Shakespeare’s As You Like It (2003).

That role caught the attention of director M. Night Shyamalan, who later cast her as the blind girl in the historical thriller film The Village (2004).

“My parents were very firm on that line, that they wouldn’t support anyone who wanted to be a child actor,” the Jurassic World star revealed to People.

Her famous father, who also became a major star in his 20s playing Richie Cunningham in the hit ABC sitcom Happy Days (1974-1980), claims he wanted to protect his children from the dangers of early stardom.

“It’s possible that child performers really find a lot of positives in it, but it’s full of landmines,” said Ron, 70, as he explained navigating Hollywood’s long and winding road at a young age.

The filmmaker, who is best known for helming Night Shift (1982), Splash (1984), Cocoon (1985), Willow (1988) and Parenthood (1989) during the early part of his career as a director and producer, was also motivated to keep his children out of the spotlight to avoid the inevitable comparisons.

“Plus, because the characters I played as a kid were so well-known as to be almost iconic… I also thought, ‘Hey, if any of our kids try to pretend to be a kid, boy or girl, they’ll be dishonest be compared,” he said, referring to his two hugely successful roles on The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days.

The Duncan, Oklahoma native went on to talk about the time and attention parents need to properly care for an aspiring child star.

He noted that his late father, Rance Howard, and his late mother, Jean Howard, were both actors who knew how much supervision to give their actor sons, Ron and his brother Clint Howard, on sets.

His mother even eventually took time off from her own acting career to support her son’s Hollywood aspirations.

In retrospect, Bryce is now grateful that her parents encouraged her to explore other interests as a child, which she says has given her more confidence to earn a paycheck in other ways.

“I’m really glad they did that because when I started acting, it took me a while to make a living,” she explained, before adding, “To be able to say, ‘Oh, okay. I can actually support myself with this.”

Ron learned many lessons from his time as a young star on The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days, namely that he and his wife refused to support their children as child actors; the proud father of four is seen with Bryce as a toddler

“My parents were very firm on that line, that they wouldn’t support anyone who wanted to be a child actor,” Bryce revealed to People this week; seen with her father Ron

Ron Howard was six years old when he appeared on The Andy Griffith Show in 1960

Ron also rose to prominence as a 20-year-old playing Richie Cunningham on the hit ABC sitcom Happy Days (1974-1980); he is pictured with co-star Henry Winkler, who played The Fonz

Bryce has seen her star rise after appearing in The Village and appearing in other films such as Lady In The Water (2006), Spider-Man 3 (2007), Terminator Salvation (2009), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), Hereafter (2010), The Help (2011) and 50/50 (2011).

But it was her role as Claire Dearing in Jurassic World (2015) alongside Chris Pratt that helped seal her status as an A-list leading lady.

She and Pratt would reprise their respective roles in the sequels Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022).

In her latest film, Howard stars in the spy action comedy Argylle with a stellar cast including Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Henry Cavill, Sofia Boutella, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena and Samuel L. Jackson.

Bryce has since started a family of her own after marrying Seth Gabel in June 2006 after five years of dating. They are now the proud parents of two children of their own.

After waiting until her 20s to take up acting as a profession, Bryce broke through to the A-list alongside Chris Pratt in Jurassic World (2015).

After meeting at New York University, the actress dated Seth Gabel for five years before marrying in June 2006; They have since welcomed a son and a daughter, ages 16 and 11 respectively

Along with Bryce, Ron and Cheyrl Howard are also parents to son Reed, 36, and twin daughters Paige and Jocelyn, 39

Their father has been hard at work in recent months directing the upcoming survival thriller Eden, starring Ana de Armas, Vanessa Kirby, Sydney Sweeney, Jude Law, Daniel Brühl, Felix Kammerer, Toby Wallace, Richard Roxburgh, Paul Gleeson and Ignacio Gasparini. .

The latter part of his career included directing such hits as Apollo 13 (1995), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), which earned him Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director, Cinderella Man ( 2005), including The Da Vinci Code (2006), Angels & Demons (2009), and Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).