The story of how David Lynch prepared Laura Dern for ‘Star Wars’
Born the daughter of two acting giants, Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern, it was no surprise that Laura Dern would follow in her parents’ footsteps. The star has carved out an impressive career for herself, appearing in a mixture of box-office smashes and more experimental work, finding an ideal balance between the two.
Some of her early credits include Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains and Smooth Talk, although it wasn’t until 1986 that she would begin to find wider prominence after appearing in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet. Playing Sandy, a girl next door-type (although the surreal movie doesn’t allow for her to fit the cinematic stereotype entirely), Dern’s character becomes involved in a bizarre series of events relating to a severed ear, a mysterious lounge singer, and plenty of crime.
The actor has gone on to work with other directors to varying levels of success, such as Steven Spielberg, landing a leading role in Jurassic Park; however, she seems to have an unbreakable bond with Lynch. She teamed up with the eccentric director just four years after Blue Velvet for Wild At Heart. The movie received mixed reviews, but its campy qualities and gripping storyline can’t be disregarded. Dern gives a fantastic performance as Lula alongside Nicholas Cage as Sailor, playing young lovers who just want to be together, despite Lula’s mother putting a hit on him.
It wasn’t another 16 years before they worked together again, this time on a project that could easily be classed as the most ‘Lynchian’ thing the director has ever made. 2006’s Inland Empire was a disorientating and lengthy journey into a disturbed woman’s psyche, with Dern giving her best, truly unhinged performance.
Dern has admitted that Lynch never auditions her – he always knows she’ll be down for a role if he believes she is right for it. She joined the cast of Twin Peaks: The Return for the important role of Diane in 2017. However, that same year, she also appeared in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, playing Vice-Admiral Amilyn Holdo. As a long-time fan of the series, Dern was delighted to be involved with a movie from the franchise, donning a purple wig to play the Resistance member.
Due to the legacy of Star Wars and the huge fan culture that surrounds it, actors have to do their best to reveal as little as possible while doing press. Luckily for Dern, she believes that her many collaborations with Lynch helped her prepare for the job despite the striking difference between Star Wars and your average Lynch film.
She once said in a speech, “I can say how lucky I am to have found David Lynch at 17. When I first met him and had to do press for him differently than other directors, preceding that, he said, ‘Your job is to tell them NOTHING!’ So it was a seamless transition into Star Wars.”
Lynch notoriously gives little away when he is asked to describe his enigmatic projects. In a BAFTA interview from 2007, he – rather humorously – refused to elaborate after picking Eraserhead as his “most spiritual film.” Thus, it is no surprise that Dern is trained in the power of secrecy, encouraging audiences to go into movies blind and subsequently make up their own minds about what they’ve watched.
