Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Who is Laura Dern? How old is she? What films has she been in?
LAURA DERN plays brave Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo who sacrifices her life as well as her crew’s on the Resistance star cruiser in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. But who is she?
The actress is the daughter of Hollywood acting legends Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd and was conceived by her parents while they were filming The Wild Angels in 1966.
The Golden Globe award-winning American actress was a child star and has been on our screens for more than four decades.
Some of her best known roles include Ellie Sattler in nineties mega blockbuster Jurassic Park and appearances in TV series Big Little Lies and Twin Peaks.
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How old is Laura Dern?
Born in February 10, 1967, Laura celebrated her 50th birthday in 2017.
The starlet was exposed to film sets and uncredited screen roles from a young age, appearing in her mother’s 1973 movie White Lightning at the age of six.
As well as being an Oscar-nominated actress – for her roles in Rambling Rose and Wild – Laura is also known for her high-profile romances.
She dated fellow actors Kyle MacLachlan, Nicolas Cage, Jeff Goldblum and Billy Bob Thornton, who famously left her for a much younger Angelina Jolie.
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What films has she been in?
By the age of 25, Laura had enjoyed varied roles in several Hollywood classics including true-life tearjerker Mask about a boy who suffers from a rare and disfiguring bone disorder.
She also starred in David Lynch’s net-noir classic Blue Velvet and went on to become a favourite of the director’s with roles in cult TV series Twin Peaks and 1990 film Wild at Heart.
Despite being panned by some critics, the latter was a moderate box office success and won the Palme d’Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.
In recent years, Laura has shown her acting credentials with diverse roles including the mother of a cancer-stricken child in The Fault in Our Stars and Reese Witherspoon’s mother in 2014’s Wild.
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Now, she is wowing Star Wars fans in the latest instalment of the sci-fi blockbuster.
But, the legendary actress revealed earlier this year that director Rian Johnson didn’t tell her what role she would be going for when asking her to audition.
She told ABC radio: “He really wanted a mystery around her. You're not sure which side she's on, or what her mission might be -- and that journey was really fun as an actor.”
She then went on to add “it was almost like he talked to me about a character which I loved, then sort of mentioned that it was Star Wars.
“Which I liked, that Star Wars came later. And I was like, 'Wait a minute: you're asking me about Star Wars? YES!’"
