With “Breaking Dawn” in theaters now, the whole twilight cast is getting a lot of press. But besides the usual cover celebs like Kristen, Robert and Taylor, who else has helped make this film phenomenon huge? Bryce Dallas Howard is a relatively new addition to the twilight family, playing the part of vengeful vampire Victoria in “Eclipse” and “Breaking Dawn”, after replacing Rachelle LeFevre who dropped out after the first two movies due to a scheduling conflict.

Gorgeous redhead Bryce grew up with show business in her blood, with her mother Cheryl being a writer, and father Ron a director (Apollo 13). However, her parents denied her TV access during her childhood, and encouraged their children to experience the outdoors and grow up away from show business. Bryce made her first appearance in her father’s movie “Parenthood” in 1989. On the Tonight Show she shared with Jay Leno that a famous friend of the family, Tom Cruise, used to babysit the Howard kids.
After graduating high school, she attended NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and graduated with a BFA in Drama in 2003. Howard attended other prestigious acting camps and schools such as Stagedoor Manor (where she met her good friend Natalie Portman), the Stella Adler Conservatory, the International Theatre Wing in Amsterdam, and The Actor’s Center in New York City. Her breakthrough came in 2004 with the movie “The Village”, playing alongside Joaquin Phoenix, who is now one of her close friends. Joaquin even persuaded her to convert to a vegan life style for a period of time, after asking her to watch “Earthlings”, a documentary about animal cruelty. In 2008 she was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance of Rosalind in the film version of Shakespeare’s “As You Like It”. She played in the blockbuster “Spiderman 3”, then came” Eclipse”, Clint Eastwood’s “Hereafter” alongside Matt Damon, and in 2011 “The Help” and “Breaking Dawn”.
Howard has been married to fellow actor Seth Gabel since 2006. They have a four year old son, Theo, and are expecting a second child by the end of this year. Howard has been open about her struggle with post partum depression, which she overcame with homeopathic treatments and therapy. About her experience she says: “Do I wish I had never endured post-partum depression? Absolutely. But to deny the experience is to deny who I am. I still mourn the loss of what could have been, but I also feel deep gratitude for those who stood by me, for the lesson that we must never be afraid to ask for help, and for the feeling of summer that still remains.”