Notes about this image from Jane Fonda's website - "The great director Alexander Payne (“Descendants,” “Sideways,” “All About Schmidt,” “Citizen Ruth”…) invited me to come to Omaha, where he lives and grew up and often makes his movies, to participate in an evening to raise money for Film Streams, Omaha’s non-profit cinema institution. The event would consist, he said, of a dialogue between us about film and acting, held on stage at the Holland Performing Arts Center. Laura Dern would also be coming (she was the actor he dialogued with at the 1st such event 5 years ago)" "I flew with, my son, Troy, daughter-in-law, Simone, and Laura Dern to Omaha Saturday morning and that trip, in itself, was a special treat because I had never had an opportunity to spend quiet time with Laura. I made 2 movies with her father, Bruce Dern (“They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” and “Coming Home”) and had done several events and projects with her mother, Diane Ladd, when Laura was a little girl, so there was history between us but not enough direct exchange. She and I share a tendency to cut to the chase, dispense with small talk and get right into it–”it” being what we’ve learned from relationships, dysfunction, narcisicism, mental health, philosophy, meditation, raising children, addiction—for better or worse, Troy and Simone have a lot to say on all the above and I’m always struck by their emotional intelligence. But—speaking of emotional intelligence– I was deeply impressed by Laura’s ability to understand, articulate and dissect her experiences. She’s a seeker, a woman curious about all of life vagaries, who puts herself in situations where her compassion will deepen and she’ll meet unusual people from whom she learns. This is not common in movie stars and, I believe, is one of the things that gives her performances such depth and specificity." |