Helena Howard

Howard was born on July 23, 1998, in New York City, New York.^[3] Her parents, both artists, are Julia Binet and Will Howard. Her mother is of Scandinavian and Eastern European descent, and her father is African American of mixed descent. She has a younger brother, Liam. Howard grew up in the New Jersey area,^[4][5] and attended the Union County Academy for Performing Arts.^[6]

After she was discovered by Josephine Decker in 2014 at the Union County Teen Arts Festival, where Decker was a judge, Howard starred in her critically acclaimed feature film Madeline's Madeline. This was Howard's screen debut and she played the titular role.^[7]

Howard was a participant in the festival, and recited a monologue from David Harrower's Blackbird. When she finished, Decker said of Howard's performance that it was "the best she had seen" in her life, and they both started crying. Decker and Howard exchanged some information after the show ended and met up a month or so later; Howard ultimately helped develop the story of the film through several improvisation workshops with Decker and others.^[8][9]

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2018. It was released on August 10, 2018, by Oscilloscope Laboratories. It received critical acclaim, particularly for Howard's performance, which IndieWire named one of the 50 best performances of the 2010s.^[10]

Howard's next role was in the short film Twist, which had its world premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.^[11] She stars as Nora Reid in Amazon's The Wilds.^[12] Howard also appeared as Cleo in the film Shoplifters of the World.^[13][14]

Film and television

• Helena Howard at IMDb