10 Things You Never Knew About Laura Dern

Laura Dern is an incredibly versatile actor that has made an impression on audiences, from her turn in the iconic Jurassic Park as well as in buzzworthy titles like Big Little Lies and Marriage Story.

Winning the Oscar for her portrayal as a take-no-prisoners divorce attorney in Marriage Story, her award was a long time coming for a career filled with daring and bold performances. While Dern’s roles may be well known, there are some fun and perhaps little-known facts about her that would interest those who want to know more about the diverse, risk-taking actor.

She Has Star Power In Her Blood

Both her mother and father, Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, are renowned Oscar-nominated character actors who have obviously passed on their talented genes to their daughter Laura. Dern’s mother, Diane Ladd has been in a slew of both indie and mainstream films, even starring opposite her daughter a number of times.

Some of Ladd’s most popular films include Wild At Heart, Chinatown, and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, which was the film that garnered her an Oscar. Likewise, Dern’s father, Bruce, has been a steady presence in films since the ’60s and enjoyed a career revival with the popularity and critical attention for his 2013 film, Nebraska.

She Got Martin Scorsese’s Seal Of Approval … At Six Years Old

Any actor would kill for the chance to be praised by one of the most revered directors of all time, Martin Scorsese. Yet, when Dern was only six years old, she accompanied her mother to the film shoot of Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. At the shoot, Dern was given the position as an extra in a scene where she had to eat an ice cream cone in every take. There were 19 takes, so she had to eat 19 ice cream cones!

Dern somehow managed to not get sick and impressed Scorsese immensely. When the scene was finished, he remarked to Dern’s mother, “That girl’s going to be an actress,” as explained on Film News.

She Was Emancipated At 15

Given that both Dern’s parents were acclaimed actors, it may be surprising that they were actually strongly against Dern acting in a movie (rumored to be the film Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains), as it would have required Dern to travel away from home for the shoot, according to ’80s Kids.

As a result, Dern sued for emancipation and won at only 15 years old so she could make her own decisions regarding her film career, as well as work as a professional adult actor without the stipulations required of actors under the age of 18. Dern has been adamant that emancipation was strictly for work/film reasons and had nothing to do with any child-parental strife and she is incredibly close with both parents to this day.

She Almost Lost Her Breakout Role To Molly Ringwald

Laura Dern’s breakthrough role that got her notice by audiences and critics was David Lynch’s 1986 masterpiece, Blue Velvet. The audacious film launched Dern’s career launch and cemented her fruitful working relationship with Lynch for years to come.

However, Dern almost never got that chance had Lynch got his first choice of Molly Ringwald for the part of Sandy, according to Mental Floss. Blue Velvet has its fair share of shocking and controversial moments, which caused Ringlwald’s mom, upon reading the script, to not even show it to her daughter, believing the movie to be offensive.

She Broke Her Own No-Nudity Rule For Wild At Heart

Another David Lynch classic, Wild at Heart is an exciting and eccentric story with a hypersexualized tilt. Previous to Wild at Heart, Dern had a no-nudity policy for herself and even rejected certain roles that required nudity.

Yet, when she saw how the nudity fit into the story and felt that the love story between her and Nicolas Cage’s characters was protected, she felt comfortable enough to bare it all for the part, while completely throwing herself into the role, as revealed in an article in ’80s Kids. As it is one of Laura Dern’s most memorable roles, the risk was clearly well worth the reward.

Dern Was Almost In Silence Of The Lambs

It would be an understatement to say that Silence of the Lambs was one of the most successful films of 1991. The film cleaned up at the Oscars, including a win for Best Actress for Jodie Foster as gifted FBI trainee, Clarice Starling. As much as the character of Clarice is associated with Foster, it was almost another actor who had the part: Laura Dern.

According to E! Online, the director, Johnathan Demme, thought that Dern’s audition as Clarice was fantastic and that she would do a great job in the role. However, the studio wanted a more famous actor for the part, so Dern did not get the part.

She Beat Out Steven Spielberg’s Goddaughter For Jurrasic Park

Even though Dern was passed over for the role of Clarice Starling by another actor, Dern got her shot when she earned the part of paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Satler in the dino classic, Jurassic Park.

Every actor in Hollywood likely covets a spot in any Steven Spielberg movie and Jurrasic Park proved to be no different, as many famous names auditioned for the role of Dr. Satler. One famous name includes Gwenyth Paltrow, who is Steven Spielberg’s own goddaughter. As noted in an E! Online article, Dern beat out both Paltrow and Oscar winner Helen Hunt for the role that would become one of her most well-known.

Her Family Made Academy Award History In 1992

The 1991 film Rambling Rose featured Laura Dern in the starring role with her mother, Diane Ladd, in a supporting role. The movie gained much acclaim, especially for the film’s acting

The high regard for the film led to Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for Dern and Best Supporting Actress for Ladd for the 1992 Oscars. While neither actor won, the duo made Academy Award history as Dern and Ladd were the first mother-daughter pair to be nominated for Academy Awards for the same film or in the same year.

She Faced Career Backlash After Her Appearance On Ellen In 1997

Before her long-running talk show, Ellen Degeneres had her own sitcom that eventually had a coming-out episode called “The Puppy Episode,” where Ellen publicly came out as gay. The episode was polarizing and very controversial for the time. In it, Dern played an out lesbian who helps Ellen in her journey of accepting herself.

After the episode came out, Dern experienced a year and a half of no work due to backlash from her appearance. However, Dern was proud of her work on the show and even deemed her appearance on the episode the “greatest thing I could’ve ever been part of,” as told to E! Online.

She Is The Inspiration Behind One Of David Lynch’s Movie Titles

On top of being a great collaborator for the iconoclastic David Lynch, Dern has also provided great inspiration for the director. One of the biggest inspirations Dern provided for Lynch was the title of Lynch’s 2006 experimental film, Inland Empire. 

As written in Factinate.com, Dern was having a conversation with Lynch about her then-husband’s hometown being in the area of Los Angeles County known as the Inland Empire. Lynch was so taken with the name that he made it the title of his next film, which also starred Dern.