TF hero
David Lynch’s muse is off to a galaxy far, far, away…
A Dern fine actress.
Daughter of actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, Laura Dern grew up on movie sets before announcing herself as a mesmerising screen presence playing Sandy in 1986’s Blue Velvet. She’s since worked with directors such as Spielberg, Eastwood, Altman and more, and is now re-teaming with David Lynch in Twin Peaks, plus has a top-secret role in Star Wars: The Last Jedi…
You’ve worked with Lynch three times and you’re now in his new series of
Twin Peaks…
I’m not in a position to talk about it! All I can say is that I know that David is doing something extraordinary. It’s incredible every time I get to work with him, but this is so iconic. My experience with him is always the same: he invents film. And that’s what he’s again done here – invented a film in segments.
Your character in Blue Velvet, Sandy, doesn’t witness the madness. Did you realise just how ‘out there’ the film would be?
I didn’t. I was 17 and I had fallen in love with The Elephant Man, and then I watched Eraserhead and thought it was just the wildest of brilliant things imaginable. So I was certainly aware of David’s gift, but I couldn’t imagine… [ shakes head] Now the film seems so radical to me, but seeing it at that age,
my friend was just doing something super-cool. [ laughs]
When did you last watch Wild At Heart? Not in a while, but I love it. Recently some women posted imagery from the movie and referred to my character as one of the female icons they want to remember. They said, “She was the original badass!”
How was it roaming Jurassic Park, with CGI techniques being birthed before your eyes?
We all walked through it together – Steven [ Spielberg], Stan Winston, the cast, the crew, and Industrial Light & Magic. We were all going, “Hmmm, how are we going to do this?” [ Visual effects supervisor] Dennis Muren was on the set every day going, “OK, let’s try this… Shall we use this camera?” They were literally pioneering a medium. It was crazy when I saw the finished movie. I literally screamed. I watched it on a big screen at Universal with the cast and Steven, who brought us popcorn. My popcorn was all over Steven within 20 minutes.
You’ve also fearlessly portrayed sexuality in several films, most notably in Rambling Rose, for which you were Oscar-nominated…
I wouldn’t say I’ve always been comfortable in terms of what I had to do but I cared about the content and I cared about the filmmaker and making sure their vision was honoured. Rambling Rose… I was very young and it was sexualised but it was about women being misrepresented and punished for their sexuality. I feel proud of how complicated it was. I don’t think you could make that movie now.
American cinema is often considered afraid of sex…
I have this film coming out with Woody Harrelson, Wilson, and our love story has a real energy in it.
It’s interesting rediscovering sexuality in your mid-forties versus your early twenties, because that’s also something that is not examined in American cinema. To see women owning sexuality is quite deliciously fun.
And then there’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Can you say anything? No! OK, at least tell us if you were a fan growing up…
I really was. The original film was a huge deal for me. I fell madly in love with it. I watched the first three. I wasn’t a science-fiction fan but Star Wars was an emotional journey. And Yoda meant so much to me. Like E.T., he’s this iconic guru that represents peace, or listening to self. It was really profound to me. So to be a part of that world has been one of the great experiences. I can’t wait until I can tell my children about it. At the moment they’re like, “Really? You’re seriously not going to tell us who you are?” JG
ETA | out now / TWIN PEAKS is AIRing ON SKY ATLANTIC now.
‘i’m proud of rambling rose. i don’t think you could make that now’