Laura Dern’s Jurassic Comeback

What are some of your core memories from shooting in Hawaii? I read that production had to shut down early on because of a hurricane.

We survived a Category 5 hurricane on Kauai during the third week of shooting. It was devastating for the island and a very close call for all of us. Steven and I were walking around our base and a door blasted open; we were thrown against a wall and when we looked outside, everything was moving sideways: cars, roofs, palm trees. It looked like a scene from The Wizard of Oz. I just remember looking in his eyes and thinking, Okay…this is what’s happening and we have no idea how things might end for us. Going through that with Sam and Jeff was certainly radical bonding. We’ve been like a family ever since.

What impact did Jurassic Park have on your career at the time?

Suddenly I had an opportunity to do much more than be a badass action heroine—although there was a part of me that thought, Well, should I do that again? I think being raised by radicals instilled a spirit of, okay I’ve done that, now I’ve gotta do something totally different! My parents always said that when I experience good fortune, I had to pay it forward and help somebody else do something unexpected.

I’m fascinated by the projects you chose to do immediately after Jurassic Park. I imagine you had carte blanche after the film was so successful, so I love that you chose to make something as outrageous as Citizen Ruth.

Oh yeah, and I was not supported on any level. Everyone definitely tried to discourage me from playing a huff addict in an abortion comedy. But I love being around filmmakers who are trying to say something no one else is talking about, as Alexander Payne was trying to do with Citizen Ruth. And around that same time, I had the great privilege of meeting Ellen DeGeneres and working with her on “The Puppy Episode.”

I imagine your agent wasn’t thrilled with you during this period.

[Laughs.] I definitely succeeded in making their life a bit tenuous—but with such pride! It definitely made for some interesting times, and everyone had a lot of strong opinions. But I knew what I wanted to do with that moment of success, which was to support Ellen doing something radical in her life. I always wanna be around the people who are trying to tear walls down. And I feel like Jurassic Park had that same sense of wonder. I know I’d certainly never seen anything like it before.