Bryce Dallas Howard Says Christmas with Dad Ron Howard and Family Feels 'Exactly' Like “Parenthood ”but 'Less Dysfunctional' (Exclusive)

The 'Argylle' actress tells PEOPLE about the Howard family's holiday plans — and discusses some of her director dad's most beloved films

Sometimes Bryce Dallas Howard’s life feels straight out of a movie — and it’s one her dad directed.

The eldest daughter of famed director Ron Howard tells PEOPLE that the holidays with the extended Howard family, which now includes six grandkids, “feels exactly like Parenthood,” the 1989 classic Steve Martin film her dad directed. “I mean exactly,” Bryce, 42, says.

“It's less dysfunctional in terms of all the adults, but just in terms of the chaos and the love and little tense moments and then reconciling," the upcoming star of Argylle adds.

This year, the “entire family is trekking out” to Australia, says Bryce, where Ron, 69, is shooting a movie, so they can all celebrate together. "It's going to be beautiful and warm and all of that, but we do a lot of cookie making and stuff," she tells PEOPLE.

Between Bryce and her three siblings — twins Jocelyn Carlyle and Paige Carlyle, 38, and Reed Cross, 36 — and their own families, it’s “very, very, very grandkids centric,” the Jurassic World star adds.

Related: Ron Howard Says He'd 'Probably' Act Again If Daughter Bryce Dallas Howard Directed Him

The actress-turned-director was seven when her dad was making Parenthood — which also starred Keanu Reeves, Joaquin Phoenix and Mary Steenburgen — and it was the “first time I was allowed to officially be an extra” on a set. “And it was amazing,” she says, revealing that she’s featured in a couple scenes, including the chaotic sequence at the school play where Martin's overwhelmed character feels like he's on a roller coaster.

“At the end of everything, it is about just this celebration of the madness and wonder that is being a part of a large family,” Bryce says of the film.

Related: Ron Howard and Daughter Bryce Dallas Howard Wish Each Other Happy Birthday: 'You Are My Best Friend'

Parenthood isn’t the only film that Bryce has on her mind this time of year. Her father also directed the 2000 live-action Jim Carrey comedy, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, but she says it’s not one that the family ever really watches themselves.

“It really is one of those things where we all feel a little shy about our work,” she admits. “And so it's just not typical that we watch our own stuff or stuff that our loved ones have done. It's a very, very, very weird thing.”

The Grinch was one of her father's films she was around “the least” because she was “just starting college” at New York University. But she does remember the “impressive” and elaborate backdrops of Whoville on the Universal lot.

“I just remember being in awe of that,” recalls Bryce, who was an extra in the background of one of the Whoville scenes. And the actress remembers the experience of “getting on the prosthetics and getting transformed into a Who” fondly. “I did it with my sister and my mom and my best friend. So it was really silly and ridiculous,” she says now.

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This year, Bryce got into the holiday spirit directing The Note, a Christmas short for Coca-Cola starring Colm Meaney. The star, who also recently helmed three episodes of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, says like her father, who rose to fame on Happy Days, she loves acting and being behind the camera. 

"I love directing and it's as important to me as acting and it's always been happening in the background," she says. "I hope it's something where I'm lucky enough to do both...in every decade of my life."

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