Laura Dern

Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress.

She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.

Laura Elizabeth Dern was born on February 10, 1967, in Los Angeles, California.

The daughter of actors Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern and great-granddaughter of former Utah governor and Secretary of War George Dern, she 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).

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 Mask (1985) and the David Lynch films Blue Velvet (1986) and Wild at Heart (1990).

Dern got her first credited role, Debbie, appearing 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 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 semester to film Blue Velvet.

In 1985, she was cast two weeks before production began as the protagonist, a carefree 15-year-old girl, Connie Wyatt, who grabs the attention of a predatory stranger, in the film Smooth Talk.

Between 1985 and 1990, Dern gained critical acclaim for her performances in Mask, Blue Velvet, and Wild at Heart–the latter two of which were directed by David Lynch–which began a longstanding collaboration between Dern and Lynch.

In the biographical drama film, Mask, she played the role of Diana Adams, a blind girl who becomes Rocky Dennis' love interest, starring alongside Eric Stoltz and Cher.

At the age of 16, Dern was cast as 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.

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.

In 1990, Dern once again collaborated with Lynch, starring as Lula Fortune alongside Nicolas Cage in the black comedy crime film Wild At Heart, where she portrays 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.

Lynch cast Dern's mother, Diane Ladd, to play Lula's overbearing mother in the film.

She received her first Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the titular orphan in the drama film Rambling Rose (1991), and her first Golden Globe win for her performance in the television film Afterburn (1992).

Dern auditioned for the role of Clarice Starling in 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 her mother, Diane 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, while 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 Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Television Movie for her performance in the 1992 television film Afterburn.

She achieved international recognition for her role as Ellie Sattler in Steven Spielberg's adventure film Jurassic Park (1993), a role she later reprised in the sequels Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022).

Dern starred as Dr. Ellie Sattler in Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Jurassic Park, achieving international recognition with the role.

After winning two Golden Globes for her performances as Katherine Harris in the television film Recount (2008), and Amy Jellicoe on 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 and 2019, she starred as Renata Klein in the drama series Big Little Lies, winning a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, and reunited with Lynch for Twin Peaks: The Return.

She had supporting roles in the films Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), Little Women (2019), and Marriage Story (2019).

Her performance as a divorce lawyer in the last of these won her an Academy Award and her fifth Golden Globe Award.