Laura Dern loved her mother, and it was evident whenever she had a chance to talk about her mother.
In a conversation recorded just two weeks before her mother Diane Ladd passed away on Monday, the Oscar-winning actress spoke movingly about her parents on an upcoming episode of the Variety Awards Circuit podcast.
Dern joined the show to talk about her performances in Noah Baumbach’s Jay Kelly and Bradley Cooper’s Is This Sing On, but she also shared some personal reflections on family, longevity and purpose – themes that resonate in both her work and her life.
When Laura Dern talks about her mother, there’s a special glow to her. I sat across from her that late October afternoon and watched her entire demeanor change the moment I started talking about Diane Ladd. Her voice softened, her eyes sparkled, and she leaned forward with the enthusiasm that can only come from deep love and admiration. It wasn’t just nostalgia or daughter-like devotion. It was the kind of respect one artist had for another, amplified by the sacred bonds of family.
What struck me most was how Dern spoke about her mother in the present tense, with vigor and pride. There was no sense of looking back at a legacy that had already been written. Instead, she spoke of her parents as dynamic forces who still create and still inspire. “They inspire me every day to just keep moving forward,” she said.
“They get along very well,” Dern said at the time of her parents, including her father Bruce Dern, her voice full of praise. “I’m so excited to learn more about longevity research, especially the work that Dan Buettner has done on what really matters. The greatest path to longevity is purpose, and a purpose-driven life and a service-driven life.”
Dern’s parents, both 89 years old, were still working in the industry. “Retirement was a word that I didn’t understand and wasn’t even known among my family,” she said. “They’re such great storytellers and radical characters. They inspire me every day to just keep moving forward.”
The conversation became especially poignant when Dern spoke about the practical realities facing older actors and pointed out that the Screen Actors Guild does not offer comprehensive health care plans to retired actors. “A lot of actors from my parents’ generation are desperately looking for two-day appearances on TV shows into their 80s because they have to work a certain number of hours to stay eligible for health insurance,” she explained. “It’s heartbreaking.”
When asked about her mother’s best work, Dern didn’t hesitate. “‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’ is one of my favorite performances of all time by an actress,” she said of the 1974 Martin Scorsese film that earned Rudd her first Oscar nomination.
Dern also recalled her first experience attending the Academy Awards as a child with her mother in the year of the nomination. “I was seven years old and I was scared,” she said with a laugh. “It’s very noisy. People are screaming and getting excited, but when you’re seven years old, noise is scary. There’s a picture of my mom on the red carpet looking very glamorous and smiling for the camera, and you can see my clenched fist digging into her arm. I was wearing big Coke bottle glasses, and I looked very nervous.”
“Rambling Rose”
©New Line Cinema/Courtesy of Everett Collection
A few years later, in 1992, Dern and Rudd were both nominated for Academy Awards for Rambling Rose, making history as the first time a mother and daughter were nominated for the same film. “The call was from Annette Wolfe, the publicist,” Dern recalled. “‘Laura, you, you and your mother just got nominated for an Academy Award for this movie.’ I was 21 years old. I took my grandmother with me, and it was a great memory for us as a family.”
Throughout our conversation, Dern’s respect for her mother as an artist and a woman with deep beliefs came through. “My mother taught me to lead with empathy and purpose,” she says with conviction. “That’s why I’m so into storytelling.”
In the wake of Rudd’s death, this interview serves as a heartfelt tribute to an extraordinary life and the unbreakable bond between a mother and daughter, two generations of women who redefined endurance, artistry and grace in Hollywood.
A full episode of the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast featuring this conversation will be released in the coming weeks.
