Bruce Dern names the one movie he’s proudest of
Most actors tend to slow down as they get older, but Bruce Dern has openly laughed in the face of that belief by embarking on the most prolific period of his career once he’d gotten into his 80s.
To put things into perspective, since the beginning of 2019 alone, the grizzled veteran has appeared in 28 movies, with another four currently in post-production. By comparison, after securing his first credited role in 1962’s The Crimebusters, he wouldn’t notch his 32nd credit until The Twist in 1976.
There were plenty of lean periods in between, but with two Academy Award nominations under his belt and a collaborator of Elia Kazan, Paul Newman, Alfred Hitchcock, Clint Eastwood, Sydney Pollack, Kirk Douglas, John Wayne, Robert Redford, Tom Hanks, Quentin Tarantino, and countless others at various points, he’s worked with multiple generations of Hollywood icons.
It was Alexander Payne’s Nebraska that helped spark a mini-resurgence alongside Tarantino’s Django Unchained, though, with the monochromatic dramedy offering a powerful reminder that Dern still had a showstopping central performance left in him, with the part of the cantankerous Woody Grant landing him his first Oscar nomination in 35 years.
After receiving a sweepstakes notice that convinces him fortune awaits, Woody decides to make the 750-mile trip to Lincoln, Nebraska, in order to claim his prize. Will Forte’s son David ends up accompanying his distant father on the cross-country journey, with his newfound local celebrity generating fame and eventually danger as the vultures start to circle as word of the potential windfall begins to spread.
When asked by Rotten Tomatoes to name his five favourite films of all time, Nebraska was the only one mentioned by Dern that he’d also starred in, which said it all about how he feels. Stating he was “very proud” of it, the actor called the movie “a credit to the industry of filmmaking and it’s done very, very well.”
Payne’s familiarity with the crew – he’d told Dern that of the 91 members of the production team, “78 have worked every day on every film I’ve ever made” – allowed the veteran to take risks in his performance, leading Dern to reflect on how “for the first time in my life I had a partner”. After more than 40 years in the industry, it wasn’t until Nebraska that he’d experienced a connection like that between a director and performer, which in turn enhanced his work significantly.
It even led to his “greatest compliment” when Al Pacino informed him that “you were just the character”, with the fellow legend sharing how he had tears in his eyes witnessing Dern fully embody the role. After finding a filmmaking partner for the first time ever and encountering a teary Pacino in the aftermath, no wonder Nebraska was held so close to its leading man’s heart.
