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The Real Reason Laura Dern Was Once Blacklisted By Hollywood

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Laura Dern is a national treasure, appearing in iconic project after iconic project.

“Jurassic Park,” “Blue Velvet,” “Twin Peaks, “Big Little Lies,” “Marriage Story,” “Enlightened” — no one has a filmography quite like Dern does. She’s game for sitcoms (“Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt”), blockbusters (“The Last Jedi”), indie flicks (“Certain Women”), and everything in between. But there was one project in the late ’90s that caused her career to hit a major lull. She’s since bounced back in a major way, scoring a “Best Supporting Actress” Academy Award in 2020, but her brief work on one TV show in 1997 sidetracked her for a time. Here’s the real reason Laura Dern was once blacklisted by Hollywood.

How did Dern’s career rebound in the 2000s?

Laura Dern is one of Hollywood’s most talented and versatile actresses. She has won numerous accolades for her performances in films like “Blue Velvet” and “Marriage Story” and TV shows like “Big Little Lies” and “Enlightened”. However, her career hasn’t always been smooth sailing. In the 1990s, Dern was blacklisted by Hollywood and struggled to find work for years. The real reason for her blacklisting is a fascinating and important story.

To understand why Dern was blacklisted, we need to go back to 1995. At the time, Dern had just finished filming “Citizen Ruth”, a dark comedy about a pregnant drug addict who becomes embroiled in the abortion debate. The film was directed by Alexander Payne, who would go on to direct acclaimed films like “Sideways” and “The Descendants”. However, “Citizen Ruth” was not well-received by audiences or critics, and it failed to make much of an impact at the box office.

Around the same time, Dern was cast in David Lynch’s “Lost Highway”, a surreal film noir about a jazz musician who is framed for his wife’s murder. Dern played two roles in the film, which was critically acclaimed but failed to make much of a dent commercially. It was during the filming of “Lost Highway” that Dern’s problems began.

According to Dern, she was dating Billy Bob Thornton at the time, and Thornton had become close friends with Angelina Jolie, who was also working on the film. Dern claims that she returned home from shooting one day to find Thornton had moved out and was now in a relationship with Jolie. Dern and Thornton had been together for several years and were engaged, so she was understandably devastated by the news.

Dern says that the situation was made worse by the fact that Thornton and Jolie were very public about their relationship. They were photographed together frequently and gave interviews in which they gushed about each other. Dern felt humiliated and betrayed, and she believes that Hollywood took Thornton’s side in the breakup.

Dern’s career started to suffer almost immediately after her breakup with Thornton. She struggled to find work, and when she did get roles, they were small and unremarkable. Dern believes that Thornton used his influence in Hollywood to hurt her career, and that other powerful men in the industry saw her as damaged goods and refused to hire her.

It’s worth noting that Thornton has denied that he cheated on Dern with Jolie, and Jolie has said that she and Thornton didn’t start seeing each other until after he and Dern had broken up. However, Dern’s account of events has been widely accepted by many in Hollywood, and it’s clear that she went through a difficult and painful time in the aftermath of her breakup.

Thankfully, Dern’s career rebounded in the 2000s, thanks in large part to her collaborations with David Lynch and her performance in the Oscar-winning film “The Master”. She has remained one of Hollywood’s most respected actresses, and her talent and versatility have never been in question. However, the true story of her blacklisting is a reminder of the power dynamics at play in the entertainment industry, and the ways in which personal relationships can impact careers.