Why the heels are back in 'Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom'
If you remember the uproar over Claire's heels in Jurassic World, you might be surprised to learn that she's back in them for Fallen Kingdom.
And you may be even more surprised to hear that the heels returned at actress Bryce Dallas Howard's insistence.
The very first time we see Claire in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the first thing we see of her is her heels, in a shot that feels like a wink to the controversy. But if it weren't for Howard, that reintroduction might've gone very differently.
"When I first read the script, I saw that it was like, Claire's going into the office, and it said that I was wearing sneakers. And I circled it. I was like, 'Absolutely not,'" she recalled in a phone conversation with Mashable.
"Like, of course she's going to wear heels to the office! She's a chick who can outrun a T-Rex in high heels. This is her happy place."
Claire's fondness for business casual attire aside, Howard felt her character's choice of shoe served as a "metaphor" for her journey in the film.
Though Claire begins the movie in heels, she swaps them for boots once she returns to Isla Nublar. The corporate exec who seemed completely confounded by the jungle in the first Jurassic World seems much more confident now that she's back – this time as part of an organization devoted to saving the dinosaurs from an impending volcanic eruption.
That "ability to grow and evolve," Howard said, is one of her favorite things about Claire.
"In this movie, her journey is really one that leaves her in a place of vulnerability. Whereas in Jurassic World, she reconnected to her humanity, and she was really stepping into her power. Now we see that this is a woman who stepped into her power, and she's connecting to her heart and her vulnerability."
If that arc takes Claire to a place where Howard gets to wear more comfortable footwear, well, she's not complaining.
"It was so much easier. I couldn't get over it," she said, laughing. "Like, every single day. I was like, 'Yeah. I get it. I totally get it.'"
As for what the rest of us can learn from "Heelgate," Howard has an idea.
"[Jurassic World] is a cautionary tale to all women wearing high heels, that we should always have flats at our disposal," she joked. "Because you just never know when you might get chased by a dinosaur."
