Bryce Dallas Howard Was Asked to Lose Weight for 'Jurassic World Dominion,' And That's Not Okay

Getty Images

The year is 2022 and film industry executives are still asking women to lose weight for roles. Bryce Dallas Howard is the latest celebrity to share her experience of being asked to alter her figure ahead of shooting a movie — an action flick, requiring physically demanding stunts, no less. She opened up about the sadly unsurprising incident in a new interview with Metro.

"[I've] been asked to not use my natural body in cinema," said Dallas Howard, who plays Claire Dearing in Jurassic World Dominion, the final installment of the Jurassic film series that premiered in June 2022. Though her role involves avoiding literal dinosaurs, she was still asked to make her body smaller before filming began. However, working with a cast of so many women and having a supportive director helped her ignore such requests, she revealed.

"On the third movie, it was actually because there were so many women cast, it was something that Colin [Trevorrow] felt very strongly about in terms of protecting me…because the conversation came up again, 'we need to ask Bryce to lose weight,'" she explained. "[Trevorrow] was like, 'there are lots of different kinds of women on this planet and there are lots of different kinds of women in our film,'" added Dallas Howard.

While it seems like a no-brainer to reflect what real people look like on screen and on stage and to allow actors to show up as they are, this doesn't always happen. Time and time again, the entertainment industry focuses on featuring an unrealistic, idealized beauty and body standards without considering the affect that might have on actors or audiences. But more celebrities are opening up about the pervasive issue.

Related: Bethenny Frankel Isn't Interested In Working Out or Dieting

For instance, Queen Latifah won't participate in unhealthy weight loss measures for a job, she said in an interview with People in May 2022. Beanie Feldstein also recently shared her experience with the pressure to begin dieting at age 11 due to growing up in the theater environment, she told Vogue. And after spending most of her life in the spotlight, Melanie Lynskey is simply "tired" of hearing about her body, whether it's positive or otherwise, she shared with InStyle.

Thankfully, Dallas Howard was able to film her latest blockbuster without altering her body. In addition to how this likely impacted her mental health, not focusing on weight loss actually helped the actress perform at her best.

"I got to do so many stunts that wouldn't have been possible if I had been dieting," she told Metro. "So I'm really thrilled [at] all the action I got to do, and I got to do it with my body...I hope it is just yet another indication of what's possible," added Dallas Howard.

Overall, the fact that her weight was even a point of discussion while filming the latest Jurassic movie is disappointing. However, it's promising to hear Dallas Howard speaking openly about her experience and proving that not dieting positively impacted her ability to perform. Now, can everyone please stop asking actors to lose weight in order to work?