Quotes from Laura Dern

I always wanted to do a 'Ms. Smith Goes to Washington.'

I was raised by two actors in a moment in time - the Seventies - when there was no judgment of characters, no heroes and bad guys.

If we could all figure out a way to just be true to ourselves and have a good time doing what we're doing, it would be a lot more fun.

I don't want to mess with my face. So I'm becoming fluent in French so I can go to France and make French films when I'm 60.

I certainly wouldn't mind if 'Jurassic Park' turns out to be commercially successful, and somebody says, 'Hey, you were in a box-office hit, and if you want to do another movie, we'll give you five million dollars to make it.'

Luckily, I was raised by people who'd already seen all the yuck stuff, which is why they originally didn't want me to act. I understood the difference between getting a part at a Hollywood party and getting a job.

The really courageous and bold thing is to make movies about human behaviour.

I have never been someone who applied 'work begets work' to my career, sometimes unfortunately.

Unfortunately, I was making comedies in my 20s, but other people didn't realize they were comedies.

What about good small roles for women? I've told my agent, if there are two great scenes in a film, I don't care, if it's something with that great edge to it.

Wild at Heart made a few people angry-they thought I was exploiting women by showing that when a woman says no she really means yes.

You'll be offered the 'lead' in this new hot film with such-and-such A-list director, 'a fabulous part' - a fabulous part? A fabulous part is a character with a soul, who starts here and goes to there, you know? There aren't many of those.

I care a lot about big food and everyone's right to healthy, nutritious food and what's caused obesity in America and obesity in children in America.

There are people who consider it almost unpatriotic to be inquisitive and to be truthful about your opinions.

Any journey of a creative person has, you know, really unusual challenges and years where you don't work and years where you work.

All I can start with is what moves me and feels like a great challenge as an actor and I think is saying something unusual or irreverent or human - honest in some way.

I grew up with a tribe of amazing women, but certainly my mother and my godmother really modeled women as actors.

We like our archetypes and heroes to be what they are at face value. And life doesn't work out like that

What do you say when someone has truly inspired you? How do you express to an artist how deeply their work has affected you?

It's a strange world, as David Lynch would say.

Hopefully, film inspires you to think about human nature. It make us consider how we treat strangers and our most intimate.

Meditation is a practice that is considered mainstream: The NFL uses it, the NBA uses it, heart patients use it. It's very easy to consider yourself a meditator and not be too alternative-minded.

My mother opened a bank account for me when I made $60 on my first day of work as an extra. She's that kind of mother.

I like movies about longing and desperation, and dark and light things, stories about people struggling to raise children, and to have relationships and be intimate with each other.