Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, an Actor Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and five Golden Globes.
Born to actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, Dern embarked on an acting career in the 1980s and rose to prominence for her performances in Peter Bogdanovich's Mask (1985), Joyce Chopra's Smooth Talk (1985), and in David Lynch's films Blue Velvet (1986) and Wild at Heart (1990). She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as the orphan Rose in the drama film Rambling Rose (1991), and received her first Golden Globe for her performance in the television film Afterburn (1992). She achieved international recognition for her role as Ellie Sattler in Steven Spielberg's adventure film Jurassic Park (1993), a role she reprised in the sequels Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022). Other lead film roles include Citizen Ruth (1995), Lynch's Inland Empire (2006), Certain Women (2016), and The Tale (2018).
After winning two Golden Globes for her performances as Katherine Harris in the television film Recount (2008), and Amy Jellicoe in the comedy series Enlightened (2011–2013), Dern garnered her second Academy Award nomination for her performance as the mother of Cheryl Strayed in the biopic Wild (2014). In 2017, she first portrayed Renata Klein in the drama series Big Little Lies (2017–2019), winning a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe, and reunited with Lynch for the final time in Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). She had supporting roles in the films A Perfect World (1993), October Sky (1999), The Fault in Our Stars (2014), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), Little Women (2019), and Marriage Story (2019). Her performance as a divorce lawyer in Marriage Story won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, along with the corresponding BAFTA Award and Golden Globe.
Early life Laura Elizabeth Dern was born on February 10, 1967, in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of actors Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern, and great-granddaughter of former Utah governor and Secretary of War George Dern. Laura was conceived while her parents were filming The Wild Angels. Poet, writer, and Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish was her great-great-uncle. After her parents divorced when she was two years old, Dern was largely brought up by her mother and maternal grandmother, Mary, who had Norwegian ancestry, from Oslo. She was raised Catholic. Her godmother was actress Shelley Winters. She developed scoliosis as a child.
Her first film foray was an appearance as an extra in White Lightning (1973), a film in which her mother starred. Her official film debut was an appearance opposite her mother in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974). In 1982, Dern, aged just 15, served as Miss Golden Globe. In the same year, she portrayed a rebellious rock band member in the cult film Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains. At 16, after doubling on her classes to graduate high school a semester early, she sought and attained emancipation, which allowed her to work the same number of hours as an adult on films. After moving out of her home at the age of 17, Dern became roommates with Marianne Williamson, who is 15 years older. Dern later enrolled at UCLA intending to double major in psychology and journalism, but withdrew two days into the quarter to film Blue Velvet.
Career 1980–1999: Career beginnings and breakthrough Dern got her first credited role, and starred alongside Jodie Foster in the 1980 coming-of-age film Foxes. At the age of 11, she had originally auditioned for a different role after telling casting directors that she was 14. In 1985, she was cast in the film Smooth Talk two weeks before production began as protagonist Connie Wyatt, a carefree 15-year-old girl who grabs the attention of a predatory stranger. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in the Dramatic category in 1986 and received largely favorable reviews. It is seen as the film that launched Dern's career.
Between 1985 and 1990, Dern gained critical acclaim for her performances in Mask, Blue Velvet, and Wild at Heart. The latter two were directed by David Lynch, which began a longstanding collaboration between Dern and Lynch. In the biographical drama film Mask, she played Diana Adams, a blind girl who becomes Rocky Dennis's love interest, starring alongside Eric Stoltz and Cher. At the age of 17, she played Sandy Williams, one of the starring roles alongside Kyle MacLachlan and Isabella Rossellini, in the critically successful mystery thriller film Blue Velvet. It is widely regarded as Dern's breakthrough performance.
In 1990, Dern once again collaborated with Lynch, and starred opposite Nicolas Cage in the black comedy crime film Wild At Heart, in which Dern played a vastly different character from her previous role in Blue Velvet. Dern called the role an opportunity 'to play not only a very sexual person, but also someone who was, in her own way, incredibly comfortable with herself'. The film, which had won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, was met with generally positive reviews from critics, but polarized some audiences at the time. Ladd appeared in a supporting role for the film.
Dern was cast for The Silence of the Lambs (1991), but lost the role due to studio's skepticism about her level of fame at the time. In 1992, Dern and Ladd became the first mother and daughter to be nominated for Academy Awards for acting in the same film for their performances in Rambling Rose. Ladd received a Best Supporting Actress nomination, and Dern received one for Best Actress. The following year, she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film and received her first Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her performance as Air Force widow Janet Harduvel in the 1992 television film Afterburn.
Dern played paleobotanist Ellie Sattler in Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Jurassic Park, achieving international recognition with the role. Dern, who had been more focused on independent films prior to the film, was Spielberg's first choice for the role of Ellie, after having been impressed with her work in Smooth Talk and Rambling Rose. She was influenced by Cage to take the role, and called the decision an "easy yes", recalling how Spielberg and producer Kathleen Kennedy made sure the character was a "no-nonsense feminist who had her own independent spirit and was brilliant in her craft", and wasn't an "oversexualized action heroine" while describing filming to be similar to an independent film.
That same year, Dern starred in Clint Eastwood's film A Perfect World. After the release of Jurassic Park, Dern was offered many roles in blockbuster films, but to avoid typecasting, ultimately chose to star in Alexander Payne's directorial debut black comedy film Citizen Ruth. In the film, she played a pregnant drug addict who unexpectedly attracts national attention from those involved in the abortion debate. It debuted at Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim for the film and for Dern's performance, but only received a limited release from Miramax, likely due to its controversial topic. Ladd made a cameo appearance, playing her mother for the third time, following Rambling Rose and Wild At Heart, with Dern's character screaming a torrent of abuse at her.
In 1997, Dern was asked by Ellen DeGeneres to guest star as Susan Richmond in "The Puppy Episode" of the sitcom Ellen. Richmond is a lesbian who helps Degeneres' character, Ellen Morgan, come out of the closet, while DeGeneres herself came out at the same time offscreen. According to Dern, people close to her worried about her taking the role, and two of her advisors told her not to accept it. Dern, however, immediately accepted the role, calling it an "extraordinary experience and opportunity" and "an incredible honor." There was a public backlash toward the groundbreaking episode, which was the first appearance of an openly gay character in a leading role on television. After the episode aired, Dern needed a full security detail. She stopped regularly receiving roles, and she did not work for a year. She earned her third Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her performance in the episode. The following year, Dern co-starred in the television film The Baby Dance, for which she received a Golden Globe nomination. In Joe Johnston's 1999 biographical film October Sky, she played a teacher who supports her students as they build rockets.
2000–2011: Further film and television career
In 2000, Robert Altman cast Dern in his comedy Dr. T & the Women. In 2001, Dern reprised her role as Ellie in Jurassic Park III, which was directed by Johnston, whom she had worked with in October Sky. Originally hesitant to return for a cameo, Dern was convinced when it was suggested by executive producer Steven Spielberg to the writers, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor who had previously collaborated with Dern for Citizen Ruth, to have the character play an important role by saving the other characters. That same year, she co-starred in Within These Walls and Arthur Miller's Focus. In Billy Bob Thornton's film Daddy and Them, Dern played the wife of the husband. She starred in the film I Am Sam as Randy Carpenter, a woman running a foster home. In 2002, she starred in the film Damaged Care. In 2004, she starred in the film We Don't Live Here Anymore. Dern starred in the 2005 film Happy Endings, and in the same year, she appeared in the film The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.
In 2006, Dern reunited with director David Lynch for the third time after Blue Velvet and Wild At Heart in the experimental film Inland Empire which was largely shot on a hand-held Sony DSR-PD150 by Lynch himself and without a complete screenplay. Dern played an actress, Nikki Grace, who starts to take on the personality of the character she plays. The film debuted at the Venice Film Festival to polarized reviews, the majority being positive, where Dern admitted that she was not sure what the film was about, but has said she would sign up for any project with Lynch. Retrospectively, Dern's performance was named the 19th greatest movie performance of the 21st century by The Ringer. That same year, Dern had a supporting role in Lonely Hearts. She starred in Mike White's directorial debut film Year of the Dog, alongside Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, and Peter Sarsgaard. In 2008, Dern starred as Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris in Recount, for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. The following year, Dern appeared in the independent drama Tenderness, and in 2010, she appeared in Little Fockers, portraying Prudence, an elementary school principal.
In November 2010, Dern and her parents Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern were presented with stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, becoming the first family to do so. In October 2011, she starred in a new HBO comedy-drama television series titled Enlightened in which she also served as co-creator and executive producer. Dern played Amy Jellicoe, a "health and beauty executive who returns from a post-meltdown retreat to pick up the pieces of her broken life." Dern brought screenwriter Mike White, whom she collaborated with on Year of the Dog, back into television work after he had suffered an on-the-job meltdown of his own. The series received critical acclaim and lasted two seasons. Dern's mother Diane Ladd plays the major supporting role of Helen Jellicoe, Dern's character's mother in the series. Dern received her third Golden Globe Award and fifth nomination, her first in the Best Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy category for her performance. She was also nominated for her fifth Primetime Emmy Award, her first in the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series category.