best film: Blue Velvet. For cinephiles, Laura Dern will always be connected to the work of David Lynch. Certainly, many movie fans will always think of her as Dr. Ellie Sattler in Jurassic Park (a fine film to be remembered for). Dern has also been nominated three films in non-Lynch and non-Jurassic films/roles (Rambling Rose, Wild, Marriage Story). Blue Velvet is currently listed as the 48th best film of all-time so that wins out here. Other films that warrant serious consideration in this category are Wild at Heart (again with Lynch), Little Women, Marriage Story, and, of course, The Master from Paul Thomas Anderson.
As the daughter of Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, nineteen (19) year old Laura Dern already had over a decade of film experience and multiple archiveable films under her belt when David Lynch cast her as Sandy Williams in Blue Velvet.
best performance: The question of Laura Dern’s best performance makes for a sort of problem for her case. The answer here is Marriage Story, but she gives the third best performance in that film (and though the film is brilliant – it is not on the level of say John Cazale giving the third best performance in a film like The Godfather Part II). Still, Dern has been excellent in top-tier movies for over forty (40) yeas now and has a whopping nineteen (19) archiveable films- so she is in the elite of elite company in terms of sheer volume of quality work in quality films. The runner-up in this category would be her work as the idyllic girlfriend, Sandy Williams, in Lynch’s Blue Velvet.
Dern as Nora Fanshaw in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story (2019). A standout is a scene where Scarlett Johansson‘s character first meets with her lawyer – played by Dern. Dern’s role is the perfect supporting role because she is in a film with Adam Driver and Scarlett (who again give two of the best performances of 2019) and every time Dern is in the scene – she is the one who wins the scene as an actor. That is really all you can ask for a supporting performance. Dern owns the room.
stylistic innovations/traits: As mentioned previously, Laura Dern has been in nineteen (19) archiveable films to date and seems to be going strong (appearing in two of the best films of the past five (5) years or so with Marriage Story and Little Women). She has range – her two characters in Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart could almost not be farther apart (they could almost work as Lynchian doppelgangers in his bizarre universe) and ditto for her work as a convincing paleobotanist in Jurassic Park and the not-so-smart Ruth Stoops in Alexander Payne’s debut, Citizen Ruth.
directors worked with: David Lynch (3) – but look at those other directors on the list as well – Martin Scorsese (1), Peter Bogdanovich (1), Clint Eastwood (1), Steven Spielberg (1), Paul Thomas Anderson (1), Kelly Reichardt (1), Greta Gerwig (1) and Noah Baumbach (1)
Dern as the memorable Lula in Wild at Heart – the second of her three archiveable collaborations with David Lynch
top five performances:
- Marriage Story
- Blue Velvet
- Wild at Heart
- Jurassic Park
- Citizen Ruth
archiveable films
| 1973- White Lightning |
| 1974- Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore |
| 1985- Mask |
| 1986- Blue Velvet |
| 1990- Wild at Heart |
| 1991- Rambling Rose |
| 1993- Jurassic Park |
| 1993- A Perfect World |
| 1996- Citizen Ruth |
| 1999- October Sky |
| 2001- I Am Sam |
| 2004- We Don’t Live Here Anymore |
| 2006- Inland Empire |
| 2012- The Master |
| 2014- Wild |
| 2016- Certain Women |
| 2017- Star Wars: The Last Jedi |
| 2019- Little Women |
| 2019- Marriage Story |
I didn’t know I am Sam(2001) was in the archives? Haha. Is there a page on it?
@Malith- No page for I Am Sam as of yet
Have you seen 99 Homes (2014)? It has great performances from Michael Shannon and Andrew Garfield but Laura Dern is solid in it although it is a film primarily driven by the 2 leads mentioned above.
@James Trapp – I have, yes right away in 2014 or 2015. Solid film and agree on the acting.
I really hope you see The Return sometime (at least up to episode 8). It’s a huge resume booster for Dern, Watts and McLaughin at least and gives Lynch another masterpiece. Dern is an important part of it
@Harry- Thanks- I can’t remember where I stopped- episode 3 or 4 I think. But will try again at some point
How many actresses have more archivable films?
@Matthew- It is not a long list: Streep, Blanchett, Katharine Hepburn, Swinton, Julianne Moore…I might be missing one or two,.. I think Kidman is at 19, too.
Dont u think Hopper should be on the top 100 actors? He gave the best performance in Blue Velvet… and also in 2 of the best Coppola films, hes great in Rumble Fish even tho he didnt get much screen time. He also gave the best performance in Speed even though its not that good of a movie.
Or is it just because the competition is much larger for actors than actresses that Dern made your top 100, but not Hopper?
@Dylan- I’ll be updating the male actor pages and list soon here. Hopper has always been one to consider – a fascinating career as an actor. I’m not sold his resume would be superior to Dern’s overall even though he, yes, obviously gives the much stronger performance in Blue Velvet. I’d have to take a really close look. But yes, there is more competition on the male actor side.
I think the film’s name is A Perfect World (1993). The meaning becomes different without ‘A’
@Malith- ok thanks