The Best Laura Dern Film Roles As a Mother
In the more than 30 years since her first on-screen appearance, Laura Dern has built a very impressive resume. The daughter of two acting parents, Dern has been around the entertainment industry for most of her life, so it should come as no surprise that the Academy Award nominated actress has had such a successful career. Now 47 years-old Dern has starred in several hit films and TV shows and has solidified herself as one of Hollywood’s most talented stars. However, being a professional actress isn’t the only full-time job that Dern has signed up for. As a mother of two, Dern takes her responsibilities as a parent very seriously, and has often brought her real-life maternal instincts with her on film sets. Here are five of the best Laura Dern film roles as a mother.
5. A Season for Miracles
In the 1999 made-for-tv movie, A Season for Miracles, Laura Dern plays Berry Thompson, a drug addicted mother who overdoses and is at risk of losing her two young children. Berry’s sister, Emilie (Carla Gugino), takes control of the situation and in hopes of keeping her family together. Many reviewers labeled the film’s predictability as a negative quality while others said that the predictability is what makes it a classic Christmas film.
4. When the Game Stands Tall
In the 2014 film, When the Game Stands Tall, Laura Dern plays Bev Ladoucer the wife of high school football coach, Bob Ladoucer (Jim Caviezel), and mother of one of the players. Dern’s character is a strong woman who often must find the perfect balance between being a coach’s wife and a player’s mother. The film received many negative reviews, especially from those who felt that the story deviated too far from the actual events. However, even with a slew of bad reviews, Dern’s performance was considered among the film’s best. One reviewer, who was harsh on Caviezel’s performance, stated that “…On the other hand, Laura Dern, shines as his on-screen wife.”
3. I Am Sam
In the 2001 drama film, I Am Sam, Laura Dern plays the role of Randy Carpenter, a foster-mother who attempts to gain custody of Lucy Diamond Dawson. Lucy, a young girl whose developmentally disabled father, Sam (Sean Penn), is on the verge of losing a legal battle, fights against her new foster care placement. At the end of the film, an agreement is made in which Randy will assist Sam in raising his daughter. Although I Am Sam received mixed to negative reviews, the film earned more than $97,000,000 at the box office. However, Dern’s performance was praised in spite of the film’s reviews and one viewer described Dern’s performance as “stellar” while another commented that, “…Laura Dern and others also turn in very complex performances that convey characters with deep, multifaceted histories, despite their relatively little screen time.”
2. Wild
In the 2014 film, Wild, Dern stars alongside Reese Witherspoon as her on-screen mother. The film, which is based on the memoir, Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail, by Cheryl Strayed follows Strayed (Witherspoon) as she hikes alone across the Pacific Crest Trail. Initially Dern, who refers to Wild as a “mother-daughter love story,” shared that she was nervous about playing Witherspoon’s movie mother due to their only seven-year age difference. However, Dern’s performance in the movie has been praised, and The Daily Beast’s Kevin Fallon stated: “In Wild, Dern shatters your heart to pieces with the delivery of one line—“just when so many things were beginning”—upon receiving her cancer diagnosis. But it’s another scene in which she leaves the character’s indelible mark. Witherspoon’s Cheryl is sitting in the kitchen with Dern’s Bobbi, who is singing and dancing blissfully while cooking food. Cheryl is irate. How could she be so positive after everything in her life has been so sad? Her optimism, Bobbi, explains, is a choice. A necessary decision in order to survive.” Cheryl Strayed herself, has even given Dern positive reviews, saying that she feels as though Dern’s performance has brought her now deceased mother back to life.
1. The Fault in Our Stars
The 2014 tear-jerker film, The Fault in Our Stars, is a beautiful story of love and loss. In the film, Dern plays Frannie Lancaster, mother of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a teenage girl who has been diagnosed with terminal thyroid cancer. The film follows Hazel Grace as she meets, and falls in love with another terminally ill cancer patient. The Fault in Our Stars received positive reviews and Laura Dern’s performance as Frannie Lancaster received critical acclaim. During an interview, Dern said that she was drawn to the role after reading the novel of the same name by John Green. Dern also said that since appearing in the film, she has been approached by several teenage girls who have said, “Will you be my mom? You’re such an amazing mom.”
(Photo by Jason Kempin/Getty Images)
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