Mother’s Health Scare Prompted Laura Dern To Motivate Others To Have Difficult Conversations With Their Parents

May 09, 2023

Diane Ladd and her daughter, Laura Dern, are two of the most talented and respected actresses in the entertainment industry. Both have made significant contributions to the world of film and television and have won numerous accolades for their performances. 

Ladd was born on Nov. 29, 1935, in Meridian, Mississippi. Ladd was interested in acting from a young age and moved to New York City in the 1950s to pursue a career in the entertainment industry. She began her career as a model and then transitioned into acting, making her film debut in 1958 in the film “Something Wild.”

Ladd went on to have a successful career in film and television, appearing in over 100 movies and television shows. Some of her most notable film roles include “Chinatown,” “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” and “Wild at Heart.” She has been nominated for three Academy Awards and has won numerous other awards for her performances, including a Primetime Emmy Award for her role in the television series “Alice.”

Laura was born on Feb. 10, 1967, in Los Angeles, California, and her father was renowned actor, Bruce Dern. Laura grew up in the entertainment industry and made her film debut at the age of six in the film “White Lightning.” She went on to appear in several other films as a child and then transitioned into more adult roles as she got older.

Laura has had a successful career in film and television, appearing in over 70 movies and television shows. Some of her most notable film roles include “Blue Velvet,” “Jurassic Park” and “Little Women.” She has been nominated for three Academy Awards and has won numerous other awards for her performances, including a Primetime Emmy Award for her role in the television series “Big Little Lies.”

In 2018, devastating news hit the family. Ladd was diagnosed with a lung disease called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and doctors estimated she had just six months left to live. The prognosis spurred her daughter Laura into action after doctors said light exercise, such as walking, would help her breathe deeper. Laura and Ladd began taking walks together, and the doting daughter began to realize how much she did not know about her mother as a person.

“We both longed to talk about the things that we’d left unsaid in our life together. The places we didn’t go because we didn’t want to hurt each other by bringing up heartbreak or trauma,” Laura told People. Ladd also felt a need to connect with her daughter, and the pair began opening up about their feelings and past trauma and experiences they had never discussed together before.

“I thought I was dying, so Laura and I just told each other everything. Just fixing ourselves and our relationship was a darn good beginning,” Ladd told the outlet as well.

Laura also told appeared on The Today Show in April 2023 and told host Hoda Kotb that it was then that she decided to dig deeper into the unknown parts of her mother’s life.

“I was shocked at how little I’d asked her. The hard stuff, because I thought, ‘Oh, I don’t want to bring it up and hurt her.’ But even the simple stuff. I’ve been raised by an actor, I’ve worked alongside my mother, and yet I’ve never asked, ‘Why did you want to become an actress?’” Laura said. She also began recording their conversations during their walks as a way for her children to remember their grandmother.

Inspired by their frank and open conversations, Laura and Ladd were inspired to pen their shared memories and published a book. Titled “Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding),” it comprises a collection of stories involving the mother-daughter duo on topics such as love, marriage, divorce and their careers. 

Laura explained to Kotb that they “told each other everything,” and that it was “healing, physically and emotionally.” 

Ladd told People one of the hardest topics to broach was the death of her first daughter in a drowning accident at 18 months old. She said:

“The worst was to talk to her about her sister’s death, which I hadn’t really done because I didn’t want to put her through that. But I wasn’t doing her a favor by not sharing that — to go back there and talk about a pain that one never truly ever gets over. The actuality of what it felt like and what her father and I went through. We were starving actors with no money to pull any shades down to keep the ugliness out. It was a horrendous time in our lives. Also the divorce, which is divorce no matter how much you are friends.”

More than four years after the initial prognosis, Ladd is still going strong and even appeared in an episode of “Young Sheldon” in 2021.

Meanwhile, Laura said she hoped their soty would inspire others to follow their lead. She said:

“As we started sharing with people that we were doing this, we saw that siblings and mother and fathers and sons and daughters, they were all having conversations they’d never had. And we thought if this can inspire friends, we hope it will inspire others, too, so that’s why we’re sharing.”

What do you think of Laura Dern’s relationship with her mother? Would you consider asking your own parents or children the all the tough questions like they did? Let us know your thoughts and be sure to pass this on to friends and family, too.