Bryce Dallas Howard is still climbing the ranks of Hollywood, not unlike her father Ron Howard or her uncle, B-movie star Clint Howard. But she's slowly making a name for herself in the Howard household, having starred in M. Night Shyamalan's "The Village" and in this weekend's "Lady in the Water." She'll be seen next year in the blockbuster "Spider-Man 3" as Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker's new love interest.

"Lady in the Water" originated as a bedtime story that writer/director M. Night Shyamalan created for his kids. Howard stars as the Lady in "Lady in the Water." Cleveland Heep (Paul Giamatti) does his best to run his apartment complex and protect his attendants as best as possible. But when a mysterious nymph appears in the complex pool at night, Cleveland is shocked to learn who she is and why she's there. As he helps her to fight the dangers of evil lurking in the grass yards outside the building, the diverse group of people in the complex must come together to help her in her mission.

We talked to Bryce below about her latest feature.

Q: It says here you cried after Night told you the story...

BRYCE: Sounds so mortifying! What happened was that I did not break down and cry. I got misty eyed. [Laughs] I think it's totally my fault. I probably said that at some point so it's not that I was misquoted probably.

I had just seen "The Village" for the first time. I was at his office complex. I was at his screening room and with his daughters, his wife, and my parents and him and it was just a very loaded moment because I had never seen myself on film before. So we saw "The Village" and we were walking back and I was just like, "God, that was such an amazing experience. In a way, I'm so sorry that it's over but I can't believe we're going to share this with everyone now." He turned to me and was like, "Bryce, I want you to be the lady in 'The Lady in the Water.'" I was like, "What?!" I couldn't believe he was inviting me to be a part of another journey with him. Just so you know, the last day of shooting "The Village" he told me that ["Lady"] was going to be his next film and that he was going to call it "Lady in the Water" and I was like, "Lady? Such a compliment." I was actually secretly hoping for it for a long time and it was wonderful when it happened.

Q: What was it about the story that moved you?

BRYCE: I think it's a few things. It's personally moving to me just knowing Night and how bold he was. He deals with a lot of criticism and in a way, it would be much easier for him to do a film that's reminiscent of "The Sixth Sense" or something like that. But the fact that he's really pushing himself and he's demanding so much of the film to be so bold and original – that, in itself, is very moving. Specifically of the story, it's so simple. It's a simple fairy tale. It was a very moral story. It was a fable of people finding their purpose in life.

Q: Do you feel like audiences are going to be able to immerse themselves in this fantasy story?

BRYCE: I have no idea. I can never gage that. I can never predict that. I'm always really bad.

For instance, with "The Da Vinci Code," I was like, "Oh psssh. Critics will love it but I don't know if people will show up?" It was like totally, totally the opposite. Dad was like, "You're a real psychic, aren't you?" I'm the worst person to ask when it comes to things like that.

Q: Why do you think this is a departure for Night? It still seems to have some of the supernatural elements seen in his other films...

BRYCE: That is true and I think a lot of his films have various spiritual undertones and this certainly does. I would say the fact that it's a departure is that it's of no specific genre and that "The Sixth Sense" and "Signs," even "Unbreakable," those were specific genres where as with this, when I try to describe it, I'm like, "It's kind of a thrilling fairy tale love story, but it's not really a love story, but of people coming together…" I can't describe it because it is something that's truly original.

Q: This must have been a different type of acting to do because a lot of your acting is done through your eyes. What was the biggest challenge in taking on htis character?

BRYCE: Finding that balance was a little challenging; the balance of the action that's occurring and have that be just enough. I would say the biggest challenge though was something I discovered a week before shooting which was, "This is Night's vision. This is Night's story. I'm there to support that and be a vessel for that." I came in with all these ideas and stuff and as I was hearing him talk, and of course he's a great listener and hear me talk about anything, but when I was listening to him speak, I knew that this was a mythology created by one man. I needed to respect that and have reverence for that. That was the biggest challenge – getting out of my own actor's head that wanted to do a load of homework, and just sit there and listen to his direction and do it.

Q: You also don't have very many lines...

BRYCE: That was great. I learned a big lesson from that one. I realized that using a lot of words in life often ends up creating more of a barrier between people and that sitting there and listen is truly a way to communicate so that was really great. Also, it was another lesson because often when I'm preparing – I just did a film called "As You Like It" that hasn't come out yet and there are a lot of lines. I'm like, "So many lines tomorrow! How am I going to learn all these lines for tomorrow!" Oh, I can't wait for a day where I just get to watch and react and wha-la, "Lady in the Water" is next and I had to be even more prepared because the moment you zone out, it's dead. The scene is dead. The scene truly exists within listening and not by the words.

Q: How does Night work as a director?

BRYCE: I would say he's very aware and very concentrated of his work. Within that, he has a great sense of humor. I was mostly spared on this film because Paul was there and Paul has an incredible sense of humor so I was a witness to their variety act that they would come up.

Q: Did the movie stick closely with the script?

BRYCE: Very close and he's a very meticulous director. I know he had several, several drafts before he could show anyone the script. Then he has an arduous process of storyboarding every single scene and he stays very close to the storyboarding even when shooting because he does that with the cinematographer, the storyboard artist, the second unit director. Early, early on, he's unbelievable prepared. When we come forward for rehearsal, he would have everything worked out. Now, if we needed something to change, he would *snaps* change it in a heartbeat. He's not stuck on what he's created but that's a very nice thing for an actor because all the important things have been worked out and you get to exist within that framework.

Q: Did you come into project with a lot of questions? Did you find yourself understanding everything fully?

BRYCE: I had a lot of questions but I don't think I fully understand anything at any moment honestly. I'd like to think that I would. I think the scenes of the film were very clear in the beginning. As far as the journey and the mythology, as an actor creating specific moments, I had many many questions. Like who is she? Is she an innocent? Is she a sexual innocent? Was she an angel or an alien? Other worldly but what kind of other worldly? It was so open in interpretation for her world could be so open because he created all of it. It wasn't like I could go, "Narf. I'm going to read a million pages on it." I couldn't do that so I really had to rely on my questions and his answers.

Q: How was working with Paul Giamatti?

BRYCE: Are we all Paul Giamatti fans here? Everyone is. Everybody loves Paul because everyone should love Paul. He's a legitimately brilliant human being. He's one of the most well-read person I've ever met in my life. He's incredibly self deprecating and humble. Above all else, he's an artist. He's an artist who would never admit he's an artist, which is the best kind.

Q: Are you still shooting "Spider-Man 3"?

BRYCE: No, I'm all done.

Q: How was that experience like?

BRYCE: It was so great. The experience with "Spider-Man" was absolutely marvelous. You wouldn't think this of a huge Hollywood blockbuster film but everyone on that set has a tremendous amount of integrity and all of their hearts are in the right place. Sam Raimi is the most collaborative, generous, wonderful filmmaker. All of the people and all of the actors are so incredibly cool. I had a really, really godo time.

Q: Did you read the comic books to figure out who Gwen Stacy is?

BRYCE: Totally, yeah I have to! That would be shameful if I didn't do that.

Q: Regarding "Da Vinci Code," are you upset when critics give negative reviews to your dad's movies?

BRYCE: Well, yeah, I don't like it but when that happened, what I realized was that was truly a blessing because audiences were walking into theaters initially with such high expectations and after reading such horrible reviews, it lowered their expectations and almost allowed them to rediscover the films for themselves, like it wasn't as bad as everyone was saying it was. I think it was a blessing in disguise.

Q: Do you have a favorite Ron Howard film?

BRYCE: No. I'm proud of him for all of them.

Q: "Lady in the Water" originated as a bedtime story. Did your dad ever tell you bedtime stories?

BRYCE: My dad? Yeah, absolutely. They were usually his latest brainstorms for his films. When he was getting ready to do "Ransom," which is this really dark thriller about children being kidnapped, I was like, "Daddy, don't tell me this story!"

We were always hearing all his stories and he's a very inclusive parent. I just took a vacation with my family and he was telling and pitching all of us three stories that could be his next film. It's very cool.

"Lady in the Water" opens in theaters today.