There has been much discourse about Bryce Dallas Howard and the heels she wore in the first Jurassic World film. The most famous scene, of course, is one in which Dearing is running away from a T-Rex in two pencil-thin shoes, a memorable shot on the big screen and one that has lived on in memes in the years following the film’s 2015 release. This time around, her role in Matthew Vaughn’s new movie release has her literally chucking off her shoes completely in order to go on a killing spree. Argylle-1, Jurassic World-0.
What Happens With The Heels In Argylle
Some minor spoilers for Argylle are in this paragraph, but I tried to make it spoiler-light.
Bryce Dallas Howard’s Argylle character is a woman struggling with her identity through the film. Thanks to a complex plot I really don’t want to get into if you haven’t seen the movie, she doesn’t have a lot of self-defining characteristics. Early in the film, she wears a lot of practical shoes, but as things progress she does throw on a pair of heels for a complicated scene involving an A+ dance move and red-carpet worthy look that enables her character to infiltrate a palace that holds secrets.
As she becomes more comfortable with becoming the Rachel she wants to be, she ditches her heels and goes barefoot briefly before she has to take on myriad bad guys. She’s certainly not a character who is doing that in heels.
The shoes she eventually chooses as she evolves are combat boots, thick and rubbery enough that later she can stick knives into them and skate around on them in a rink made of oil. The scene is memorable, but the first thing I thought about when there was an intentional shot of her ditching the heels shown was, “Of course, the actress would make a point of this.”
Nearly a decade ago now (I can’t even believe it’s been that long), Bryce Dallas Howard was asked over and over again about the running-in-heels scene.
No one else in the Argylle cast is running around in heels, and she’s not about to play a heroine running down hallways in impractical shoes again. It wouldn’t make sense for this character, but I’d have to assume it’s an idea she would be intentionally thinking about while filming in a way that shoes might not matter as much for any other spy. In this case, what works best for the character is actually the opposite of the J World moment, and I’m glad we got this shoe subplot on the big screen.
What Bryce Dallas Howard Said About The Jurassic World Controversy
I think even people who might not remember much about Jurassic World probably have a vivid image of Claire Dearing running away from an apex predator in an increasingly sweaty outfit and a pair of pumps. The moment became such a part of the cultural lexicon that when CinemaBlend covered Howard’s casting in Argylle, we joked that she’d ditch the heels, not knowing how spot-on that comment proved to literally be.
Bryce Dallas Howard’s been pretty great about the iconic moment overall. She felt strongly Claire Dearing wouldn’t just go barefoot in the face of adversity and she did return to wearing heels in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, however briefly. Howard has embraced the memes wholeheartedly, joking we’ll still be talking about Claire Dearing’s heels “80 years” from now.
Oh my gosh! It's my favorite stuff, just the GIFs online. I mean, did you see the really funny thing where it had everyone from the previous film, including the dinosaurs, wearing heels? That was hilarious. ... It's obviously something totally unexpected, and I have a running joke for the rest of my life perhaps. I can be one of those people that's constantly referencing it, even 80 years from now.
I guess in this case, 10 down and only 70 more to go! But if you haven’t seen Argylle yet, it’s definitely a nice full circle moment for the actress. Couple that with a bonkers plot and a great performance from Sam Rockwell (our Argylle review), and you have a recipe for a fun night at the movies. Heels not required.
Of course, Howard hasn’t been shying away from heels while doing press for the movie. … but when a girl’s not running from dinos, she should be able to wear whatever she wants.
