**Laura Dern on Purpose, Empathy, and Navigating Hollywood’s Complex Terrain**
Laura Dern is fearless. From her breakthrough role in David Lynch’s *Wild at Heart* to her Oscar-winning performance in *Marriage Story*, Dern has long captivated audiences with her talent and authenticity. Recently, during a conversation on the *Variety Awards Circuit Podcast*, Dern opened up about her latest work: two radically different films arriving this fall. But rather than focusing solely on performance, the actress emphasized purpose, empathy, and the importance of showing up for what truly matters.
“I feel really privileged to be talking to you about two movies at this time that are about empathy and kindness and not missing your life, and not being caught up by ambition or disregard for what matters to you, in totally, radically different ways,” Dern reflected. Acknowledging the heavy atmosphere surrounding the arts these days, she added, “The movies are both speaking to that.”
### Contrasting Stories, Common Themes
The two films in question couldn’t be more tonally distinct. Noah Baumbach’s *Jay Kelly*, starring George Clooney, uses Hollywood stardom as a symbolic backdrop to explore themes of presence and priorities. Meanwhile, Bradley Cooper’s *Is This Thing On*, featuring Will Arnett and a surprising turn from NFL legend Peyton Manning, delves into the raw honesty and unexpected humor found in the aftermath of a breakup.
What unites these films is Dern’s remarkable ability to find humanity in characters wrestling with life’s most complicated challenges.
### Reflections on Life and Career
For Dern, these themes hit close to home. Raised by working actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, she understands intimately the sacrifices the profession demands.
“The thing that always so upset me in my own childhood—and then I’ve had to deal with my children—is you never get to plan anything, because you never know when you’re going to be asked to leave for three months to go to Budapest or New York or wherever it is,” she explained.
She continued, “The reckoning that *Jay Kelly* presents should resonate with anyone, regardless of profession: our goal is to show up for our loved ones and the people we care about, kind of at all cost.”
Dern cited her parents as her greatest inspiration, not only as artists but as examples of longevity. “Retirement has never been a word I understood or knew in my family,” she said, referencing recent research showing that purpose-driven lives contribute to longevity.
However, she also highlighted a darker issue in the acting profession: “Heartbreakingly, for those who don’t know, our unions, Screen Actors Guild, have no true health care plan for actors in retirement. So when you stop working, you lose your health care.”
### On the Academy Awards
When asked what she would change about the Academy Awards as the organization nears its centennial, Dern’s answer revealed her core values.
Reflecting on last year’s emotional tribute to David Lynch, she shared, “I felt such grief and such devotion amongst every single person in that room for what David Lynch meant to them, and I thought to myself, there has to be more time taken to pay tribute to the people who changed the craft forever.”
### The Intimacy of *Is This Thing On*
In *Is This Thing On*, which Bradley Cooper shot in just over 30 days while operating the camera himself, Dern reconnected with the intimate, raw filmmaking style that initially drew her to acting.
“I think it really holds the kind of storytelling and filmmaking that we all fell in love with when we were watching the movies of the ’70s that made us want to do this,” she noted, praising both Cooper’s direction and Will Arnett’s “beautiful performance.”
### Returning to *Big Little Lies*
As for her upcoming return to *Big Little Lies*, Dern couldn’t be more excited to revisit her character, Renata Klein.
“She’s truly endless bliss for an actor,” Dern said. “Even when you show up on set with an idea, she still shocks and surprises you, and that’s the greatest experience you can have.”
Dern compared Renata to her breakout role in Alexander Payne’s *Citizen Ruth*, calling both characters “so boundaryless you’re not sure where they’ll take you.” She added, “With Renata, I don’t get to be in charge. She’s driving the ship. And I love that about her.”
Beyond the character, Dern cherishes the experience of working alongside Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, and the rest of the talented cast and crew.
“To be with literally my best friends, oh my God, the greatest women ever — I feel so lucky,” she shared.
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### Interview Excerpts from the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast
**What does it feel like to work on two films that are so tonally different?**
“The world is radically troubling. And I feel in rarefied air to be here with you, getting to talk about movies, because we’re so privileged to have our jobs and to love them. But also, I don’t take it lightly that storytelling is a pretty extraordinary opportunity to talk about things that matter.
In the most troubling of times, when you feel that using your voice for a cause can be — and sometimes is — the very most important thing, I feel really privileged to be talking to you about two movies at this time that are about empathy and kindness, not missing your life, and not being caught up by ambition or disregard for what matters to you, in totally, radically different ways. But the movies are both speaking to that. So with great good fortune, those are the movies that I’m getting to talk about right now.”
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**Do you see yourself in the titular character in *Jay Kelly*, where he feels like he missed out on life because of his career?**
“I love how you describe the film because Noah and Emily Mortimer, when they wrote the script, and Noah in his direction, are clearly speaking to the iconography of the movie star, and what we project onto the movie star, and how our lives have sort of been narrated by the films and the music that are the background to our lives.
For many of us, we’ve also placed both positively and negatively stereotypes, heartbreaks, or longings onto the movie star. Truthfully, I think the film is a gift to all of us, using cinema as this backdrop to say, don’t miss your life.
For all of us, the ambition to first of all just make enough money to take care of a family—and if you’re blessed to do it with a vocation or craft you care about—is its own dance.
The equity that’s put within industries about where you need to be at a given time to make sure you are the boss of the thing has really had misguidance in it for many people who have to make really hard decisions.”
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**What was it like working with Bradley Cooper on his third film?**
“Bradley is such a brilliant, truly brilliant filmmaker in terms of how he sees the movie he wants to make, even if we haven’t caught up to it yet. He saw it before he had it on the page, then continued to develop it and invited me in.
With Will and I working very intimately with Bradley on the dynamics of the relationship, to have them embedded in the story without having to be scripted was so raw, cool, and beautiful to me.
I did see the dynamics of marriage that I’ve seen in other films, including *We Don’t Live Here Anymore* and *Marriage Story* — the question of breakup and divorce and children, and all those themes.
But what this movie did that I thought was so brave was start us with a breakup where the audience and the protagonists don’t know how we got here or what’s going to happen. We just know it’s broken and we can’t fix it.
This question of giving ourselves the room to continually change — we’re living, breathing organisms that are ever-changing. Thinking the day we marry someone that 20 years later it’s going to be the same person is nuts.
The system is rigged. How we think that can be successful instead of finding the room to evolve within yourself and bring that new identity into the marriage is hopefully the goal.”
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**Are you a huge football fan? How was it working with Peyton Manning?**
“Imagine me at lunch or dinner breaks on that movie, sitting between Peyton and Bradley, knowing little to nothing about football.
I was raised by one of the biggest sports fans of all time, but in Los Angeles, it was predominantly basketball and baseball, so I didn’t go to many NFL games once the Rams left.
But Bradley has taken me to Eagles games, and I’ve had the privilege of experiencing the stadium and obsession of fandom.
Listening to them talk about the game was incredible. You don’t need to know the NFL to recognize Peyton Manning was the best there’s ever been.
Peyton was incredible. He’s such a good actor and an incredible guide about what it feels like for an athlete at that level.
His knowledge and presence set up a scene in such a great way that his performance kind of embodies Tess’s entire past history in one scene.”
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**Can you recall your first Oscar nomination and how it felt?**
“I was raised by actors and a godmother, Shelley Winters, an extraordinary actress. I grew up around the Academy Awards as the space where your peers acknowledge your storytelling, whatever your craft.
There was a weighted-ness to it in my childhood; it was a beautiful honor.
The most beautiful part was that it was perhaps the first—and maybe only—time in Oscar history that a mother and daughter were both nominated for the same film.
My mom and I—my mother Diane Ladd—were both nominated for *Rambling Rose*.
The call came from my publicist because the publicists are in the room, and there was no social media or live TV back then. So, someone wakes you up and says, ‘Laura, you and your mom have both been nominated for Academy Awards for the movie.’
We brought my grandmother with us, and as a family, it was a very beautiful memory.”
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**Where do you think Renata is nowadays from *Big Little Lies*?**
“I don’t know where Renata is. I’m waiting for her to call me.
I just hope to meet up with her again soon, because she’s truly endless bliss for an actor.
It’s amazing to play a character who, even after you’ve read the script—and we don’t have one yet for the next season—even when you arrive on set with an idea, she still shocks and surprises you.
That’s the greatest experience you can have.
I think Renata is one of the few times I’ve felt that, probably the only other time was *Citizen Ruth*, a film I did with Alexander Payne.
It’s the same feeling, where the character is so boundaryless you’re not sure where she’s going to take you.
Renata is powerful, a boss, she kind of takes over me. I don’t get to be in charge. She’s driving the ship a bit, and I love that about her.
And to be literally with my best friends on set—oh my God, the greatest women ever—I feel so lucky.”
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**If you could change one thing about the Oscars, what would it be?**
“Last year, I was in the room, and I felt such grief and devotion amongst every person for what David Lynch meant to them.
I thought there has to be more time taken to pay tribute to the people who changed the craft forever.
That would be one thing I wish we could figure out for sure.”
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On this episode of the *Variety Awards Circuit Podcast*, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangcay, Emily Longeretta, Jenelle Riley, and Michael Schneider, Dern discusses her roles in Baumbach’s and Cooper’s films, reflects on a changing Hollywood landscape, and shares what we can expect from her future projects.
**Note:** This episode was recorded 12 days prior to the passing of her mother, Diane Ladd.
Also featured on this episode is Nina Hoss, one of the stars of Nia DaCosta’s *Hedda*.
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*Listen to the episode and explore more in-depth conversations about the best in film and television with Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast—your one-stop source for lively interviews, awards race discussions, and industry insights.*
https://variety.com/2025/film/awards/laura-dern-adam-sandler-big-little-lies-season-3-1236569070/