The Big Picture
- Bryce Dallas Howard discusses her role in
The Village
and acknowledges the importance of authenticity in casting visually impaired performers. -
The Village
, directed by Shyamalan, follows an isolated community in fear of creatures in the woods with a surprising twist. - Howard also shared updates on her canceled Disney+ series and upcoming
Star Wars
project at Fan Expo Canada.
Bryce Dallas Howard has had a successful career both in front of and behind the camera, but there’s one character she probably wouldn’t play again. In a panel moderated by Collider’s Maggie Lovitt at last weekend’s Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, Howard was asked about the challenges of playing blind character Ivy Walker in the 2004 M. Night Shyamalan chiller The Village. Howard discussed the film, which was her first leading role, and whether she, as a sighted performer, should have played the role at all, advocating for more accessibility in Hollywood for visually impaired actors. She explained:
“I worked very closely with a school for the blind, and read a lot of [neurologist]
Oliver Sacks
, and would not have been able to do anything I did without the guidance and support of the community. But I do want to go on record saying that there are an extraordinary amount of talented performers who are visually impaired, and this is just about accessibility. There is no reason those actors shouldn’t be playing characters like Ivy Walker, and it’s on the movie industry to make that possible. I loved that character, I loved that experience, and I love that movie, and I hope in the future that there are better results because there’s more authenticity.”
What Is ‘The Village’ About?
The Village is set in an isolated community in pre-industrial Pennsylvania. The entire community lives in fear of mysterious creatures that stalk the woods outside the village; the color red is banned, as it is said to attract the beasts. However, when a community member is badly injured, blind young woman Ivy Walker (Howard) must brave the wilderness and the monsters to get help. As one might expect in a Shyamalan movie, there’s a twist — the creatures are not what they seem, and neither is the village. In addition to Howard, it also stars Joaquin Phoenix, Sigourney Weaver, Adrien Brody, Brendan Gleeson, Jesse Eisenberg, William Hurt, and Judy Greer. After the successes of The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs, The Village misfired with critics and currently holds a 44% “Rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it scared up solid results at the box office, making $256 million on a $70 million budget.
At the Fan Expo panel, Howard also revealed that Disney+’s reboot series of the science fiction classic Escape to Witch Mountain had been canceled after shooting a pilot; Howard was to have starred in the series. She also gave an update on the upcoming Star Wars series Skeleton Crew, which she directed an episode of.
M. Night Shyamalan‘s latest film, Trap, is in theaters now. The Village is available to rent or buy on Prime Video. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.
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