Laura Dern reveals why she’s making daughter Jaya, 17, wait until she’s older to become an actress…even though the Oscar-winning actress got into showbiz herself at 11
Laura Dern revealed she’s letting her 17-year-old daughter, Jaya Harper, wait until she’s older to get into show business.
Jaya has already decided to follow in her mother’s footsteps in the acting profession but needs to focus on her studies at the moment.
While on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Laura, 55, explained that her own experiences of becoming an actress at age 11 influenced her decision to keep Jaya waiting.
Side by side: Laura Dern has revealed she’s letting her 17-year-old daughter Jaya Harper wait until she’s older to get into show business; pictured at the premiere of West Side Story in December
Open: While on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Laura, 55, explained that her own experiences of becoming an actress at age 11 influenced her decision to keep Jaya waiting
She confessed to Ellen that “there’s something very moving about her daughter’s desire to pursue her career in the family.”
Not only is Laura an Oscar winner herself, but her parents Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd are Oscar-nominated actors.
Laura shares Jaya with her ex-husband Ben Harper, with whom she also has a 20-year-old son named Ellery, who wants to be a musician like his father.
While on Ellen’s show, Laura said of her daughter, “I’m so happy she’s waiting and wants to go to school, but deep in her heart I know she wants to act.”
Chitchat: She confessed to Ellen that there was “something very moving about her daughter wanting to play the way the family career works”.
Next generation: While on Ellen’s show, Laura said of her daughter, “I’m so happy that she’s waiting and wants to go to school but really knows in her heart that she wants to act.”
Laura, who has acted in several films with her own mother, said, “And if she does, maybe we’ll have the privilege of working together one day.”
However, Laura also revealed that she was the one who insisted Jaya wait a little longer before venturing into the entertainment industry.
The ‘Big Little Lies’ actress admitted that Jaya often says, ‘You didn’t wait!’ and yeah, basically I make her wait.’
When Ellen asked if Laura wished Bruce and Diane had kept her waiting, Laura considered the question and replied, “In a way.”
Mother of two: Laura shares Jaya with her ex-husband Ben Harper, with whom she also has a 20-year-old son named Ellery, who wants to be a musician like his father
However, she added that she “forced” her parents to let her act, “and I lied and I pushed and I lied about age.”
‘To your parents?’ Ellen quipped, and Laura joked in response, “I told my parents I was 15 — they were very busy, they didn’t remember.”
Laura kept pushing to get into the business, but also saw the consequences of not being in school, just doing my thing.
Open: The ‘Big Little Lies’ actress admitted that Jaya often says, “You didn’t wait!” and yes, I basically make her wait.
Even before she was 11, Laura was making small cameos in her mother’s films, such as the 1974 Martin Scorsese film, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
Her first real role was a bit part in the 1980 film Foxes, the directorial debut of Adrian Lyne, who specialized in erotic thrillers like Unfaithful.
Foxes was shot to death when she was just 11 and launched her acting career which led to her emancipating herself from her parents at 16, thereby freeing them from child labor laws that had previously restricted her daily work hours.
Family business: Not only is Laura an Oscar winner herself, her parents Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd are Oscar-nominated actors