“Some men just want to watch the world burn,” said Alfred in The Dark Knight. I’d add: some probably want to throw water on it first. That line feels eerily fitting when I think about what Bryce Dallas Howard once claimed. I mean, how often do you hear about an acclaimed director literally tossing a glass of water in an actress’ face… for artistic inspiration? 

Well, this isn’t a scene from some offbeat European arthouse flick. It allegedly happened on a real set. Howard, known not just for her powerhouse lineage (yes, Ron Howard) but also for her dignified performances in Jurassic World and The Help, shared a moment that sounds more like satire than reality. The accused? Lars von Trier!

Between allegations tied to his name, eccentric behavior, and Howard’s disturbingly casual retelling, this entire revelation left me stunned, amused, and oddly unsettled. Let’s get into it.

Bryce Dallas Howard’s recounting of her experience on the set of Manderlay (the 2005 follow-up to Dogville) wasn’t some trembling confession. It was casually dropped into an interview with The Sunday Times, almost like she was describing a strange but amusing memory. But let’s not gloss over the specifics.

Upon arriving in Norway for the shoot, von Trier allegedly wasted no time diving straight into psychological jabs. His opening line? According to Howard: 

Your father’s a terrible filmmaker. 

The actress, understandably confused, asked what he was trying to provoke. His response? 

Your angry face. I don’t know what it looks like.

Wait, what?

When emotional manipulation didn’t work, he allegedly chose a more theatrical route: chucking a glass of water in her face. Yes, like an old-timey soap diva, except this wasn’t scripted. Howard’s response? Matching energy. She threw a glass of water back at him. 

“Why did you do that?” he apparently asked before walking off like a drenched performance artist exiting stage left. Now, here’s the wildest part: Howard said she was “sort of delighted”. That’s right: delighted, not distraught.

“That was my introduction to the Lars von Trier experience, but it wasn’t like I went to my room and cried or anything. I was sort of delighted by it,” she said, brushing it off with almost alarming grace.

If this story were a one-off, maybe we’d write it off as eccentricity. But Lars von Trier has a reputation. An infamy, apparently. In 2017, Icelandic singer and actress Björk posted about mistreatment by a Danish director. Fans didn’t need Poirot to piece together that she was referring to Dancer in the Dark: the emotionally exhausting 2000 film directed by von Trier.

He denied the allegations, but things snowballed. That same year, The Guardian reported that Zentropa, the studio von Trier co-founded, was at the center of serious accusations: s*xual harassment, degradation, and bullying. 

Bryce Dallas Howard seems strong: witty, self-aware, emotionally resilient. Not every actor might have handled that situation with such poise. And yet, the incident hasn’t really made waves. Maybe people assumed it wasn’t that serious. But shouldn’t the industry stop waiting for visible breakdowns before taking situations like this seriously?

Howard’s story is one of those revelations that lives in the absurd gray zone: both ridiculous and serious, entertaining and troubling. Her poise is impressive, but it doesn’t erase the fact that this alleged encounter was bizarre and unacceptable.

We’ve got bigger conversations to have!