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Laura Dern has paid tribute to her mother, Diane Ladd, more than a month after her death at the age of 89.
“I just haven’t gotten there yet. I haven’t put myself in it yet,” the Oscar winner told The Hollywood Reporter about processing his mother’s death.
Dern, who currently stars in Jay Kelly and Is This Sing On?, added that her feelings about Rudd’s death are “very mixed” following the death of director David Lynch in January 2025 and other losses this year.
“But I will say,” Dern added, “while I’m in the midst of it, looking at the photos and looking at them and trying to figure out how to honor her and him and everything that’s going to happen, I feel truly blessed by their legacy by holding tight to what they gave us in everything: the art, the friendships, the memories, the stories, the activities.”
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She also described the weeks since her frequent co-star Lynch’s death at age 78 as “a very tender, heartbreaking time,” adding to THR, “It feels like we’re only just getting started.”
Dern, whose father is actor Bruce Dern, 89, announced Rudd’s death on November 3, saying, “Diane Ladd, my great hero and profound gift as a mother, passed by me this morning at her home in Ojai, California.”
“She was the best daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist, and empathetic spirit that only a dream could create,” Dern added. “We were blessed to have her. She is now flying with the angels.”
On November 29, Dern celebrated Ladd’s 90th birthday.
“Happy birthday to my hero, the most extraordinary person I’ve ever known,” she wrote. “As an artist and as a human being, you were always loving, always dreaming, always creating, always serving everyone. I love you, Mom.”
