5 Fun Facts About Laura Dern You Probably Didn’t Know: Details About the Golden Globe Winner

If there’s one celebrity having a moment right now, it’s definitely Laura Dern. The 52-year-old actress, who rose to fame with movies like 1986’s Blue Velvet and 1993’s Jurassic Park as well as TV shows like Enlightened (2011-2013) and Big Little Lies (2017-2019), has not one but two buzzy performances garnering her a ton of attention.

Right now she is riding high on all-star turns in both Marriage Story and Little Women — but there’s a lot about this Hollywood queen you probably don’t know. Scroll down and learn five facts about Laura you probably don’t know!

I WAS MISS GOLDEN GLOBE IN 1982

“Times have changed. I remember how simple it seemed, with my grandma driving me up to the Hilton in her gray Toyota Corolla. I changed in the bathroom,” she told reporters at the 2020 Golden Globes. “There was something very beautiful about knowing this [Hollywood] community at such a young age and having my grandma with me.”

I FOLLOWED MY PARENTS’ ADVICE — GRUDGINGLY

Veteran actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd cautioned their daughter to vary the roles she accepted to avoid being typecast. “I gave up financial opportunities, I was pissed off a lot, I was bummed because I wasn’t working,” Laura told The New York Times. “But in the long run, I worked with the directors that moved me and I never played the same part twice in a row.”

I’M PROUD TO BE A PART OF GAY TV HISTORY

On a groundbreaking 1997 episode of Ellen, Ellen DeGeneres’ TV character comes out as a lesbian after realizing her crush on Susan, played by Laura. “That was an incredible moment to be part of, one of the great moments of my life,” she also revealed of the watershed moment in LGBTQ history backstage at the 2020 Golden Globes.

DIVORCE DIDN’T RUIN ME

“My amazing children… came from love despite an ending in a marriage,” Laura said at the event after winning a 2020 Golden Globe for her role in Marriage Story — and is nominated for an Oscar too. The mom of son Ellery, 18, and daughter Jaya, 15, split from musician Ben Harper in 2013. “We are so privileged to redefine what family looks like,” she says.

STRANGERS REGULARLY YELL AT ME

“It is amazing how diverse a group it is,” Laura — who gets recognized as Big Little Lies’ Renata for the character’s shrieking of “I will not not be rich!” — said at the star-studded award show. “A father of a teenage girl in a Forever 21 screamed out the line to me and she was so embarrassed,” says Laura. “I loved him for it.”