Laura Dern has a presence which takes over the screen, no matter if she stars as the main role or a short cameo. Dern boasts a career which has spanned 5 decades, and in 2020 she received a long overdue Oscar win for her performance in Noah Baumbach's devastating Marriage Story. Dern began her career as a teenager, which is unsurprising as both of her parents, Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, were extremely successful actors themselves.

As Dern’s career blossomed, she would star in some of the most iconic films of all time such as Jurassic Park. Her performance in this franchise as Ellie Sattler made her a household name, and she will return to this role for the upcoming Jurassic World sequel. She has also made a name for herself on the small screen, earning an Emmy win for her role in Big Little Lies. Her movie credentials are substantial, so here’s a look at the best Laura Dern movies, ranked.

Related: Jurassic World 3 Director Reveals Steven Spielberg's Reaction to the Legacy Characters Returning

8 Certain Women

certain women

Certain Women was released in 2016, directed and written by Kelly Reichardt and co-starring Michelle Williams, Kristen Stewart and Lily Gladstone. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and performed exceptionally well. The film focuses on the lives of women from a small Montana town and the challenges they face in a misogynistic world. Dern plays Laura Wells, who is a lawyer facing microaggressions in the male dominated profession. Dern gives a compelling performance, and the subtleties of her acting are perfect for expressing how often women are expected to keep their cool in situations that would make anyone snap.

7 Little Women

little women

Greta Gerwig’s 2019 revamp of Little Women (based on the eponymous Louisa May Alcott novel) was a huge success and featured a star-studded cast including Meryl Streep, Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Florence Pugh and Timothée Chalamet. Laura Dern plays Marmee March, who was previously famously portrayed by Susan Sarandon in the 1994 version. Dern was able to effortlessly breathe life into a well-known character and play the loving and supporting mother role in a way which felt naturally warm.

6 Wild at Heart

wild at heart

Laura Dern and David Lynch have been frequent collaborators over the years, and a clear example of their chemistry resulting in success is through Dern’s performance as Lula Fortune in Wild at Heart (1990). Dern stars opposite Nicolas Cage as a provocative and free woman who expresses every emotion she feels and finds life in everything. Cage and Dern’s chemistry is obvious, and the film marked a change in the type of characters she played, demonstrating her impressive range.

5 Jurassic Park

Jurassic Park

With the release of Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster Jurassic Park in 1993, Dern found an enormous amount of success. Starring alongside Sam Neil and Jeff Goldblum, the movie, based on the novel by Michael Crichton, depicts dinosaurs brought back to life through scientific intervention, which goes extremely wrong after the dinosaurs escape and wreak havoc. Dern plays Dr Ellie Sattler, who is now a part of pop culture history. Her portrayal strays from the poorly written character in the novel who conforms to the typical male-written view of women. Indeed, Dern brought life and nuance to the character, making her the fiercely intelligent and capable scientist that we remember.

4 Blue Velvet

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Blue Velvet was Dern’s first collaboration with David Lynch, and she co-starred alongside Dennis Hopper and Isabella Rossellini as Sandy Williams, the all-American girl next door type. The film is a twisted neo-noir journey which uncovers a violent undertone to an American suburb which appears idyllic on the surface. Dern does an excellent job of embodying the concept of good in a dark and twisted film, clashing with the rest of the film and taking the audience out of the darkness when she appears on-screen.

3 Citizen Ruth

citizen ruth

Citizen Ruth was released in 1996, directed by Alexander Payne and starring Swoosie Kurtz, Mary Kay Place and Kelly Preston alongside Dern. Dern plays Ruth Stoops, who finds herself at the center of an abortion debate after she becomes pregnant. Dern plays the role with an almost comical crassness, and the relentless vulgarity of her character almost makes the audience warm up to her. It’s a starkly different role for Dern, and she succeeds in it greatly.

2 Wild

wild

Jean-Marc Vallee’s Wild (2014) saw Dern co-star alongside Reese Witherspoon based on Cheryl Staryed’s memoir. Witherspoon took the lead role, and Dern played her mother, Bobbi. Cheryl is struggling after the death of her mother, and Dern beautifully plays her mother in a series of flashbacks which make it clear why she had such a huge impact on Cheryl, easily playing the angelic figure who supported and encouraged her daughter through her life. Her work earned her a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Related: Best Jean-Marc Vallée Movies, Ranked

1 Marriage Story

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In 2019, Dern starred in Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story. Her co-stars were Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson who were a couple going through a messy divorce. Dern plays the cutthroat divorce lawyer, Nora, who supports Johannsson's Nicole through the divorce, and highlights the inequalities faced by women in the process of divorce. Her performance was effortless and earned her a well-deserved Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Dern remarked on how much she admired working with Baumbach, and it’s clear to see their collaboration was successful.