Rocketman actress Bryce Dallas Howard has said it would be a ‘privilege’ to parent an LGBTI child.
The star plays the late Sheila Eileen Dwight, the emotionally abusive mother of openly gay singer Elton John in the new biopic Rocketman.
During one painful scene, as Elton comes out to her over the phone before a gig, Eileen cruelly tells him he’ll never find love.
Speaking to GSN in a recent promotional interview, Bryce reflected on how she’s feel in Sheila’s shoes.
We asked the Jurassic World star ‘What would your advice be to a parent who us struggling with their child’s sexuality or gender identity?’ To which she replied, ‘‘Wow, that is a really, really, really good question.’
‘So, I have to say first and foremost that I’m guessing, because I haven’t had this dynamic with my parents, and I haven’t had this conversation yet with my children,’ she said.
‘But what I would say is that with your kids, and having two kids of my own, I see what a privilege it is to get to be curious and learn about who this person is.
‘As a parent, I want to be trusted when I say something about myself; believed and respected. “I’m in love with this man – trust me! Respect it!” Of course. So I’d want that for my children. I’d want that for anyone.’
Bryce, who is also known for her work on the Nosedive episode of TV show Black Mirror, furthermore continued: ‘For any parent who’s in a position where they’re in a family and they’re learning that their child shows love in a way that is perhaps different from the way they show love…
‘What a privilege to get to expand their own consciousness. To see it’s even more expansive than they thought. That human beings are far beyond the limitations we put on one and other.’
Furthermore reflecting on the role of Sheila, Bryce told us: ‘When I first read the script, I thought it was great. But I was very concerned that the mother was being vilified.
‘So, I actually sought out several people independently of this production, confidentially, in order to learn more about her. It was bad. It was as bad as it gets without being explicitly abusive.’
She also said: ‘You don’t want to be casual about playing someone who was real and is recently deceased. And the mother of an icon. So certainly, I kept asking questions and piece together what was going on.
‘At one point I called my friend who is a psychiatrist and asked “What was wrong with her? How was this happening? What was going on in her brain?” It was bizarre.’
