You know this talented actress now from her roles in prestige TV shows Big Little Lies and the Twin Peaks revival, her Oscar-nominated performance as Scarlett Johansson’s shrewd divorce lawyer in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story, and as matron of the March family in Greta Gerwig’s Little Women. What you may not know about Laura Dern, she didn’t always play lawyers and moms, she got her start as a bit of a sex symbol.
Born Laura Elizabeth Dern to actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, Dern started acting in the 1980s. Her first leading role was as Connie in the 1985 movie, Smooth Talk. The movie was based on Joyce Carol Oates’ disturbing short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been.” The plot revolves around 15-year-old Connie who finds herself in danger after she meets the mysterious Arnold Friend (Treat Williams). For her role, Dern was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.
Her breakthrough role came the next year in the form of David Lynch’s 1986 psychosexual, neo-noir Blue Velvet. She played Sandy Williams, the love interest to Kyle Machlachlan’s Jeffrey Beaumont, and the foil to Isabella Rossellini’s darkly sexual Dorothy Vallens. This movie led to a longtime collaboration between Dern and Lynch which continues to this day. After Blue Velvet, Lynch cast Dern as the lead in his Wizard of Oz-inspired 1990 movie, Wild at Heart. She played Lula, opposite Nicolas Cage’s Sailor Ripley, two young lovers on the run from Lula’s disapproving mother, played by her real-life mother Diane Ladd. Her role as the wildly sexual Lula in Wild at Heart marked a distinct change from the more demure Sandy in Blue Velvet. Watch one of our favorite Laura Dern videos above, featuring a scene from Wild At Heart.
Her first Oscar nomination came in 1992 for her leading role as Rose in the 1991 film, Rambling Rose. The movie was written by Calder Willingham who adapted the script from his own book of the same name. Set in the 1930s, It follows a young woman named Rose who is hired by the Hillyer family to work as their housemaid, in order to avoid a life of prostitution, she takes on the job. However, Rose is a promiscuous woman and turns men’s heads wherever she goes, something she knows and takes advantage of.
Of course no discussion of Laura Dern would be complete without mentioning her importance to the LGBT community. In 1997 she guest starred on “The Puppy Episode” of the sitcom Ellen. Dern played Susan, a lesbian, to whom the titular Ellen finds herself storngly attracted, which leads to her coming out as gay. The episode made history for being the first sitcom to have a leading character who was gay.
And yes, Dern also starred in Steven Spielberg’s epic Sci-fi movie, Jurassic Park. And she will reprise her role in the upcoming Jurassic World 3.