In 1997, it seemed like actress Laura Dern was at the height of her career, then she made a decision that saw her effectively blacklisted for a year.
It’s a story that can be traced back to her appearance in the landmark episode of the sitcom Ellen where Ellen DeGeneres famously came out as gay, in which Laura agreed to guest-star in as lesbian character Susan.
But after the now-famous episode of television aired, and backlash around Ellen herself swelled, no one would give Laura a job for more than a year.
At the beginning of 2020, Laura Dern won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. During her acceptance speech at the 92nd Academy Awards, where she was honoured for her work in the Netflix film Marriage Story, the 53-year-old actress referred to her parents as her ‘heroes’.
Laura Elizabeth Dern was born into a Hollywood family, as the daughter of celebrated actors Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern on February 10, 1967, in Los Angeles.
Over the years, Laura has accompanied both of her famous parents to their own moments of awards show glory, but many years ago her birth came at a time of tragedy for her Oscar-nominated parents.
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Before Laura’s birth, Dern and Ladd had welcomed another daughter called Diane Elizabeth Dern who drowned when she was just 18 months old. Doctors then told Ladd she probably wouldn’t be able to have another baby.
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If I were her, the Ellen show episodes would be the proudest moment of my career.