Bryce Dallas Howard Reveals Spider-Man Stunt Injury That Still Makes Her “Very Cautious”
Bryce Dallas Howard still carries a little reminder from her time in the Spider-Man universe and it’s in her shoulder. The actress, now 44, joined fans at L.A. Comic Con on September 27, where she looked back on her role as Gwen Stacy in 2007’s Spider-Man 3. At the time, Gwen wasn’t Peter Parker’s great love like in the comics. Instead, Tobey Maguire’s Peter used her to make Mary Jane (played by Kirsten Dunst) jealous.
Bryce told the audience she has “so many good memories” from working on the film and praised director Sam Raimi for being “unbelievably collaborative and inclusive.” She remembered the cast and crew feeling like a traveling troupe, always trying to top themselves.
“I remember being a part of Spider-Man 3 and thinking to myself, ‘Wow, it’s so cool how the crew and the actors have become almost like a company, like a band, like a little circus, where they know what their show is and they come together and each time they want to dazzle the audiences more,” she said.
That energy inspired her to aim for more franchise roles. Since then, she’s popped up in Twilight, Jurassic World and even directed episodes of Star Wars.
But the moderator pushed her on another memory: the stunts. Bryce admitted she trained hard and loved doing as much action as she could. Still, there were moments she felt the impact, literally. Clutching her shoulder, she spoke about how getting caught by spiderman can “pull your arm out a little bit.”
Later, she told PEOPLE that the stunt left her osteopath confused. “…He was like, ‘Were you dragged by a truck?’ I said, ‘No. I was rescued by Spider-Man, of course.’”
Though she calls herself a “safety fanatic” and avoids unnecessary risks, Bryce confessed that some of the aches linger. While she said she does not have a ton of aches and pain from stunts. But for sure, there’s some things.”
It was not her first stunt-related souvenir. Back in 2020, while filming Jurassic World: Dominion, she showed off massive bruises under both arms on Instagram, joking, “Raise your hands if you’re happy to be doing stunts again!!”
As for whether she’d ever revisit Gwen Stacy, Bryce is open to it, especially now that Marvel is deep into multiverse storytelling. Still, she gave props to the Gwen actresses who followed. “With Gwen Stacy, Emma Stone, in my perspective as a fan, is the definitive Gwen Stacy in that universe,” she said, also noting Hailee Steinfeld’s take on the character in the animated Spider-Verse films.
