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Laura Dern made a rare family appearance on the red carpet at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival, accompanied by her children and her father, Bruce Dern.
The star of “Big Little Lies” stood by her father, Bruce, 89, along with her son Ellery, 24, and daughter Jaya, 21, for the premiere of “Dernsie: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern,” a documentary directed by Mike Mendez.
Bruce, looking dapper in a black tuxedo and bowtie, was seen clutching Laura and Ellery’s arms as they posed for photos. Adding a touch of casual flair, he donned a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap while flashing a wide grin for the cameras.
Laura exuded elegance in a shimmering silver gown with a sheer overlay. Beside her, Jaya shone in a chic black-and-white striped dress, while Ellery mirrored his grandfather’s style in a sleek black tuxedo paired with a fashionable skinny tie.
The documentary “Dernsie” delves into Bruce’s illustrious career in acting as well as his personal life journey.
The “Nebraska” actor has been married three times, first to Marie Dawn Pierce from 1957 to 1959 and then to late actress Diane Ladd from 1960 to 1969. He married Andrea Beckett the same year he divorced Ladd, and they’ve been together ever since.
Bruce and Ladd had two children during their union — Laura and their first daughter, Diane Elizabeth, who died tragically in 1962 when she was just 1 year old.
Bruce shared how he found out the devastating news of his eldest daughter’s death in “Dernsie.” Diane Elizabeth was with the family’s maid when she opened the gate to their swimming pool while the maid took a phone call.
“My wife was at a Dodgers game; I was at a track meet at the Coliseum,” Bruce recalled in the film, per People. “I was told over the loudspeaker to go to the desk, and some plainclothes cop said to me, ‘Are you Bruce Dern?’ And I said ‘Yes,’ and he said, ‘You should go home right now, because your child just drowned in a swimming pool.’”
Bruce said he “never got over it” and that it also affected his relationship with Ladd.
“Because Diane and I shared a tragedy, we stayed together longer than we should have, but out of it, five years later, came Laura,” he shared. “About a month later, it was over for Diane and I, and we never really talked it out. She wasn’t there. I wasn’t there.”
Ladd died in November 2025 at 89 years old. Laura told the Hollywood Reporter in a statement at the time: “She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created.”
Laura shares her two children with her ex-husband, singer Ben Harper. The two got married in 2005 but divorced in 2013 after nearly eight years of marriage.