Bryce Dallas Howard enjoyed not being able to use her phone while shooting 'Pete's Dragon'.

Bryce Dallas Howard

Bryce Dallas Howard

The 35-year-old star only joined the world of social media less than a year ago so was easily able to embrace the "freedom" of filming the movie in New Zealand without using the device.

Speaking on BBC Radio 2, she said: "There were no cell phones, but it was so nice, it was so nostalgic. We were in New Zealand and we wouldn't have a signal most of the time because we were shooting deep in the forest, and you got a sense of freedom when we were shooting the movie that we wouldn't have otherwise.

"I was one of the last hold outs for social media; I only joined social media in this past November. So yeah, I fit in well with that kind of atmosphere."

The 'Jurassic World' actress stars in the magical remake of the 1977 classic as Grace, a park ranger who is sceptic of her father's - played by Robert Redford - stories about a dragon in the woods.

Talking about her character, Bryce said: "I play a character who spends all day in the woods, and she's like, 'Well there's no dragon in the woods, but that's OK dad'.

"And then one day she discovers a boy who's this feral child in the woods named Pete - played by the extraordinary Oakes Fegley - and she goes about trying to figure out how he survived alone in the woods for so long.

"He keeps talking about Elliot, so she's like, 'Who's Elliot? Who's Elliot?' and comes to realise that Elliot is a dragon. I'm the classic grown up in a Disney film that's a non-believer and then becomes a believer. That's my journey."

The actress - whose father is filmmaker Ron Howard - also said that the original 'Pete's Dragon' was one of her favourite films growing up, and insisted the magic of the original is still present in the remake.

She said: "This film - while there are things that are the same - most of it is different. And the thing that is the same - and what excited me most about the original 'Pete's Dragon' - is that it is a live action film with a real boy and an animated dragon.

"At the time [of the original], Disney had played around with it in 'Mary Poppins', having animated characters with people, but it was something relatively new.

"And as a kid, I was like 'oh my gosh, it has to be a real dragon because he's standing next to a real boy,' and so we provide that again."

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