I think about Laura Dern a lot.
I first came across the award-winning actress in Jurassic Park back in ’93. (The flirtation between her character, Ellie, and Jeff Goldblum’s character, Ian, was a real moment.) But it wasn’t until I saw her in Big Little Lies, season two specifically, that my obsession really kicked off.
I know, I was almost 30 years late to the party. But whatever. I arrived, and I’m fully participating in the festivities now.
I distinctly remember watching the second season of BLL and thinking, “Wow. Do I love Renata now?”
If you’ve seen the show, you’ll know that Dern’s character Renata starts off as something of a villain. A real ‘Karen’ type. But thanks to great writing and Dern’s acting chops, her complex character reveals herself to be a real boss in season two. She’s still slightly annoying, but she’s a fierce woman and it makes her hard to dislike.
Not to give anything away, but there’s a scene in the season after Renata discovers her husband is a weak piece of sh*t, and she literally destroys his man cave. I’d like to get the image of her smashing the room while yelling “Maybe you should have shown a woman a little respect” tattooed onto my body.
Anyway, after that experience, I found myself in a deep Dern rabbit hole, desperate to discover everything about her life. Turns out there’s a lot. Here are a couple of my favourite facts.
She played Ellen DeGeneres’ love interest in Ellen:
In the history-making ‘Puppy Episode’ of television series Ellen, Laura Dern played an openly gay woman, Susan, who shares a strong connection with Ellen. The famous scene in which Ellen says she’s gay for the first time (on tv and in real life), the words were uttered to Dern.
Speaking on the moment with PEOPLE, Dern said:
“If empathy and compassion are all we’re really here for, then I couldn’t ask for a greater gift than the experience of what it meant for Ellen to come out, to be with her at the moment that she said those words for the first time, to watch her change history, and to listen to and share so many stories from people around the world that moment impacted.
“It changed my life forever, I’m forever grateful.”
Billy Bob Thornton was *ENGAGED* to Dern when he married Angelina Jolie:
This might be the wildest story I have ever heard in my life. Every time it pops into my mind, I get re-maddened. According to InStyle, the pair met in about 1997, but in 1999 Thornton met Jolie on the set of a film. He married the actress and never bothered to communicate with Dern about any of it.
Dern told Talk magazine in 2000:
“I left our home to work on a movie, and while I was away, my boyfriend got married, and I’ve never heard from him again.
“It’s like a sudden death. For no one has there been any closure or clarity.”
To make things even weirder, there are reports that Dern babysat Jolie when they were kids. Hollywood, man.
Dern went on to marry and have kids with Ben Harper.
(Billy Bob who?) Laura Dern met musician Ben Harper shortly after splitting from Thornton. The pair were together for about 12 years, divorcing in 2012.
She’s also been romantically linked to Jeff Goldblum (told you that Jurassic Park scene was a moment), Nicholas Cage and Common.
Lastly, she’s big on social issues:
Take a peek through her Instagram feed and you’ll see a stream of posts in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, which is amazing, But Dern has been working with organisations supporting immigrant children and the environmental conservation for some time now.
She is, simply put, a fascinating queen. And I will be a Dern fan forevermore.
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