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Laura Dern loved her mother, and that was evident anytime she had a chance to talk about it.
In a conversation recorded just two weeks before her mother Diane Ladd’s death on Monday, the Oscar-winning actress spoke movingly about both of her parents for an upcoming episode of the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast.
While Dern joined the show to talk about her performances in Noah Baumbach’s “Jay Kelly” and Bradley Cooper’s “Is This Thing On,” she spoke about her personal reflections on family, longevity and purpose — themes that echo through both her work and her life.
There’s a particular radiance that comes over Laura Dern when she speaks about her mother. Sitting across from her that late October afternoon, I watched as her entire demeanor shifted the moment we turned to discussing Diane Ladd. Her voice softened, her eyes brightened, and she leaned forward with an intensity that can only come from profound love and admiration. It wasn’t just nostalgia or daughterly devotion — it was the kind of reverence one artist holds for another, amplified by the sacred bond of family.
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What struck me most was how Dern spoke of her mother in the present tense, with such vitality and pride. There was no sense of looking back at a legacy already written; instead, she spoke of her parents as active forces, still creating, still inspiring. “They inspire me every day to just keep going,” she said.
“They’re doing great,” Dern said at the time about both of her parents, including father Bruce Dern, and her voice filled with admiration. “I’m so moved in learning more about the longevity research, particularly 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.”
Both 89, years old, Dern’s parents were still working in the industry. “Retirement has never been a word I understood or knew in my family,” she said. “They’re such amazing storytellers and radical characters. They inspire me every day to just keep going.”
The conversation turned especially poignant when Dern discussed the practical realities facing older performers, noting that the Screen Actors Guild provides no comprehensive health care plan for retired actors. “A lot of actors of my parents’ generation are desperately looking for two days on a TV show in their 80s, because they’ve got to work a certain amount of hours to continue to qualify for their health insurance,” she explained. “It’s heartbreaking.”
When asked about her mother’s finest work, Dern didn’t hesitate. “‘Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore’ is one of my favorite all-time performances by an actress,” she said of the 1974 Martin Scorsese film that earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination.
Dern also recalled her very first experience at the Academy Awards, when she attended as a child alongside her mother during that nomination year. “I was seven and scared,” she said with a laugh. “It’s so loud — people are yelling and excited, but when you’re seven, noise is scary. There are pictures of my mom looking very glamorous and smiling for the cameras on the red carpet, and you can see my clenched fists digging into her arm. I had big Coke-bottle eyeglasses and just looked really nervous.”
“Rambling Rose”
©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection
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Years later, in 1992, Dern and Ladd made history together when they both received Academy Award nominations for “Rambling Rose,” marking the first time a mother and daughter had been nominated for the same film. “The call came from my publicist, Annette Wolf,” Dern remembered. “‘Laura, dear, you and your mother have just both been nominated for Academy Awards for the movie.’ I was 21 years old. We brought my grandmother with us, and as a family, it was a very beautiful memory.”
Throughout the conversation, Dern’s reverence for her mother — as both an artist and a woman of deep conviction — shone through. “My mom taught me to lead with empathy and purpose,” she said with such conviction. “That’s what keeps me in love with storytelling.”
Now, in the wake of Ladd’s death, the upcoming interview standa 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.
The full episode of the Variety Awards Circuit Podcast featuring this conversation will be released in the coming weeks.
