Out of the office, into the Village

Although her father is a Hollywood director, Bryce Dallas Howard was resigned to having to work as an office temp before she was offered the lead role in the film The Village.

When a stage production of As You Like It finished up, the daughter of actor and director Ron Howard was considering returning to university and working part time. However, Sixth Sense director M. Night Shyamalan saw her on stage and was certain she should play the lead role in his thriller.

The movie concerns a late 19th-century community where people live harmoniously but with the knowledge that a race of beasts inhabit the woods around them.

"It was a really good time for Night to show up," said Howard.

"It was the first time since I'd left school that I was unemployed - and later that afternoon I had an appointment at a temp agency to get office work."

Instead, Howard found herself playing courageous young blind woman Ivy Walker, acting alongside William Hurt, Joaquin Phoenix and Adrien Brody.

But despite the strong cast and making her feature film debut, Howard said the whole experience did not really overwhelm her until after she was finished shooting.

"It was incredibly inspiring. I had a limited amount of time to do the role and I didn't want to waste time being intimidated or doubting myself or being insecure. Only when I was done with the film did I realise, 'Oh my god, I can't believe I actually had the guts to look William Hurt in the eye'."

Howard has just finished production on another film, Manderlay, and is now looking for more work.

Although her father - who shot to fame as Richie Cunningham in Happy Days - is now an Oscar-winning director, she isn't expecting any favours.

For a start she has not even seen an episode of Happy Days.

"At the end of the day it's my work that's going to speak for itself," she said. "I know for a fact that I didn't get any jobs because of my dad or anything like that - or necessarily missed any jobs because of my dad. People have been pretty fair with me and I'm hoping it continues that way."

- AAP