Bryce Dallas Howard Resisted Joining Social Media Until One Famous Co-Star Gave Her A Piece Of Advice She Couldn’t Ignore — And She Still Credits That Conversation With Changing Her Mind

Bryce Dallas Howard says she finally joined social media after being “a holdout for a long time” — and it was one of her famous costars who convinced her to take the plunge.

The Deep Cover actress, 45, caught up with PEOPLE exclusively at Variety’s 2026 Power of Women event in Los Angeles on Wednesday, Sept. 23, and reflected on the upcoming 10th anniversary of her unforgettable Black Mirror guest role. Howard appeared in the Netflix sci-fi anthology series’ Oct. 21, 2016, episode, titled “Nosedive,” which is set in a dystopian near-future where people can rate each other from one to five stars using their smartphones. Her character, Lacie, becomes obsessed with raising her score.

Howard told PEOPLE that it was “really meaningful” for her to be part of that episode at the time because she had just joined social media weeks earlier. “I was a holdout for a long time,” she said, explaining that she finally joined because Chris Pratt, her Jurassic World costar, told her it was “time.”

“But then it was very helpful [in preparing for the Black Mirror role] because I remember having a little bit of — I was like, ‘What do I put as my descriptor for who I am? Who am I?’ ” she continued. “It leads you down a bit of an existential rabbit hole. And it all comes down to, how healthy is it for us to be aware of being perceived?”

“You know, like spotlight syndrome, where we all think everybody is looking at us,” Howard continued. “Well, social media did kind of shift that, because people sort of are [looking].”

Howard said the episode was also helpful in opening a dialogue with her kids about social media.

“I felt like I had a really amazing advantage as a parent,” she explained. “My kids are 19 and 14, and before there was any conversation about social media, I was like, ‘Mommy has something to show you.’ So the episode did a lot of the work for me.”

Howard shares son Theodore, 19, and daughter Beatrice, 14, with her husband, actor Seth Gabel.

The actress said her kids had a “very visceral reaction” to seeing “their own mother” in the context of the haunting Black Mirror story.