Cookie champs! Bryce Dallas Howard and her family — including father Ron Howard — take their holiday traditions very seriously.
“We decorate cookies. That’s like a thing that we do. We’re really into it,” the Jurassic World actress, 41, exclusively told Us Weekly on Friday, December 9, while promoting her partnership with Oral-B. “We have a whole day that we dedicate to it and it’s largely driven by my mom [Cheryl Howard] and we make all the cookies in advanced and then it’s like a decorating party and we all get together and it’s really fun and it gets a little competitive.”
After the Howard brood whips up the tasty treats, they get into the zone when it comes to decorating.
“I mean, admittedly, there are children involved and so the stakes get super high where they’re just like, ‘OK, I’m gonna sit here for two hours making this cookie’ and it’s hard as an adult to compete with that level of focus and determination,” Bryce jokingly told Us. “But my dad’s cookies are strong. He’s got good cookie-decorating game. He’s creative and he has good small motor skills. You could say that Ron Howard is a visual artist and [he brings] that to his cookie decorating.”
The accomplished director and Cheryl, both 68, tied the knot in 1975 before welcoming their four children: Bryce, Reed and twins Jocelyn and Paige. The former high school sweethearts are also proud grandparents of five, including the actress’ two little ones. The Help star and husband Seth Gabel share daughter Beatrice, 10, and son Theodore, 15 — who are already interested in following in their mom and grandpa’s footsteps.
“My kids, like so many kids in this generation, are definitely drawn to the arts, to self-expression [and] to storytelling,” Bryce gushed on Friday. “My daughter especially is definitely interested in being an actor … and she’s so good, but the girl’s so obsessed with math. She’s in fifth grade right now and the school just reached out to us and they’re having her start sixth grade in January ‘cause she’s, like, [so advanced] in math. She loves academics and so, [while] she’s a really good performer, she’s probably gonna be a really hardcore businesswoman or get into the maths and sciences because that’s such a passion of hers.”
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse actress continued: “With my son, he’s super creative and he loves making movies with his friends and editing and doing all of that. [They are part of] a very, it’s a very creative young generation: Gen Z [and] Gen A.”
Beatrice and Theodore have shown early interest in pursuing the arts, just like Bryce herself. Her dad got his start acting in The Andy Griffith Show and Happy Days. Bryce, however, still hasn’t seen the 1970s sitcom.
“Like a little bit. Not enough,” she told Us when asked if she’s watched Happy Days. “I’m in Toronto right now and I’m working on a pilot that I’m acting in and straight up, somebody asked me yesterday that same question … and I was like, ‘Well, I’ve watched Andy Griffith’s show a lot and so maybe that’s on the list for this holiday season.’”
The Rocketman actress is also spending the holidays focused on her dental hygiene, thanks to the Oral-B iO9 toothbrush.
“I care about my health, but the only thing that I care about more than my health is the health of my loved ones and we all know how important oral hygiene is,” Bryce said. “We all know how not fun that is to talk about and so, as a parent, as someone who cares about the longevity of my parents and siblings and kids and husband, I love the Oral-B iO9 because it makes brushing your teeth fun and effective. When you finish brushing your teeth with this toothbrush, you feel like you’ve left the dentist’s office — without the experience that you feel when you’re in the chair at the dentist’s office. … It’s been a game changer for me.”
She added: “It tells you what kind of brushing experience you’re having based on what you want [and] it also tells you when you’re brushing too hard, you’re brushing too soft. It’s like the Goldilocks of toothbrushes! … It gives me the utmost confidence when I know that everything is clean and beautiful and good with my mouth and I wanna give that gift to all of my loved ones.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
