Laura Dern is moving forward with work while holding tightly to the influence of the two people she says shaped every part of her life — her mother, Diane Ladd, and her father, Bruce Dern.
According to PEOPLE, a month after Ladd’s death on Nov. 3 at age 89, the 58-year-old actress spoke with the Los Angeles Times about promoting her new films, Is This Thing On? and Jay Kelly, while grieving a parent she was extraordinarily close to.
As she prepared for interviews, Dern said she quickly realized she couldn’t — and wouldn’t — separate her career from the family that built her foundation.
“I thought, ‘This is going to be hard because I’m going to have to talk about my parents,’ ” she admitted. “Then I thought, ‘They are my muses, my guides, my teachers. I’ve never done an interview without talking about my parents, and that will be the case for the rest of my life.’ ”
The actress publicly announced Ladd’s death on the day she passed, calling her “my amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother” and praising her as “the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created.”
Ladd’s death certificate later confirmed her cause of death as acute on chronic hypoxic respiratory failure, and it noted she was cremated on Nov. 10.
Ladd’s illustrious career included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart, Rambling Rose, and the sitcom Alice. Her on-screen partnership with Dern began when Laura was just 7, appearing as an extra beside her mother in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
They went on to star together in Wild at Heart, Rambling Rose, Citizen Ruth, and several other projects that highlighted their unique artistic bond.
Dern’s father, acclaimed actor Bruce Dern, remains a central figure in her creative life as well.
She has long credited him — alongside her mother — for her artistic grounding, emotional resilience, and deep respect for storytelling. In the interview, she emphasized that he, too, is part of the guidance she carries into every performance and every public moment.
In 2023, Laura and Ladd published their joint memoir, Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding). The book grew out of conversations sparked by Ladd’s 2018 diagnosis with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Dern said the talks filled them “with love” and offered healing she now cherishes even more deeply.
She continued honoring her mother later in November, posting a black-and-white portrait of Ladd on what would have been her 90th birthday.
“Happy birthday to my hero, the most extraordinary person I have ever known,” she wrote. “As an artist and human being, you were always loving, always dreaming, always creating, and ever in service for all. I love you, Mom.”
Through her grief, Dern says the legacies of both her parents remain her compass — shaping not just the work she does, but the person she strives to be.
