Bryce Dallas Howard: 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked

3. The Help (2011)

Howard has generally found herself playing 'nice people' in her movies. It's perhaps no surprise - take one look at her and you're unlikely to be enveloped by terror - but The Help allowed her to branch out a little more and move into less familiar territory. The character of Hilly Holbrook is not quite Hannibal Lecter, but she is undoubtedly problematical, flawed and a character the audience is certainly not going to root for. The Help is set in the 1960s, with the Civil Rights movement in full swing, and African-Americans finally finding their voice. Emma Stone's Skeeter Phelan begins interviewing members of the black community for a book she plans to write. Viola Davis' Aibileen Clark is the first to speak up, only for her friends and white detractors - led by Howard's Holbrook - to put her down again. The film deals with serious social issues brightly, and with a lightness of touch which still gives the subject matter the respect it deserves, and this is key to Howard's performance. She's not a monster, but she does pull off being a superficial bigot and a racist surprisingly well for someone who hadn't had much experience of playing such a divisive character. Overall the film, and Howard's part as the main villain of the piece, received widespread critical acclaim.