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Bryce Dallas Howard, Pregnant Stuntwoman?

Bryce Dallas Howard in New York CityPhoto by Getty Images

Apparently, new mom Bryce Dallas Howard was putting more than herself at risk when she did her own stunts as Spider-Man’s Gwen Stacy. “I was pregnant at the time, but I had no idea,” Howard told us at the film’s premiere. “And when I found out, I was like, ‘Oh, Lord!’ I was honestly praying the whole time.” She was harnessed in but says that no matter how safe you know you are, hanging off a five-story building feels like hanging off a five-story building. “There was no acting,” she says. “Those are real screams.” And her father, Ron Howard, who we ran into on two occasions this week, tells us that Bryce really did get injured by a desk crashing into her during that scene where she’s hanging off a five-story building and a desk crashes into her. He says he got torn between his knowledge of the movie industry and paternal instinct. “I mean, I know [Sam] Raimi is not an abusive director,” he says, “but I did remind her that it’s within an actor’s boundary to say, ‘This is too much for me. I don’t feel safe.’ She has to not let her eagerness and her sense of professionalism take over. I basically told her, ‘Don’t be afraid to speak up.’ But she was so thrilled to be in the Spider-Man movie I’m not sure she was listening.” —Jada Yuan

Bryce Dallas Howard, Pregnant Stuntwoman?