VM: M Night Shyamalan happened to spot you in a play, and immediately knew that he wanted you for The Village - did that put a lot of pressure on you to deliver a brilliant performance for him and justify his faith in you?
Bryce Howard: Well I tried not to be overawed or afraid because I could not waste any time doubting myself, that would have been disgraceful. I was given this tremendous opportunity and to allow anything to detract from me giving one hundred percent would have been so wrong. Night had this insane amount of faith in me, he cast me after watching me in an hour and a half of a small Shakespeare production in New York - it was my responsibility to have at least an ounce of that faith in myself, I could not let him down.
VM: Your character in The Village, Ivy Walker, is blind - how did you prepare for the part?
Bryce Howard: I decided to spend a large majority of each day blindfolded, each session no more than ninety minutes because after that time your brain starts to rewire itself. I went to a place called The Lighthouse in New York, it is an institution where they aid people who are visually impaired. I was actually really sceptical about all the things my character could do in this film despite being blind - at The Lighthouse they said, yes of course she could do all this and a lot more, it was a real insight for me. I also did a lot of reading and studying of other performances. It was a real challenge to portray the most realistic performance I could, it was a truly powerful experience.
