Laura Dern and her kids joined her father, Bruce Dern, for a rare family red carpet appearance at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival Wednesday.
The âBig Little Liesâ actress and her children â son Ellery, 24, and daughter Jaya, 21 â supported Bruce, 89, at the premiere of the Mike Mendez-directed documentary, âDernsie: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern.â
Bruce held on to Laura, 59, and Ellery on the red carpet, wearing a black tuxedo and a bowtie. He also rocked a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap as he smiled big for the cameras.
Laura, meanwhile, looked glam in a silver gown with a sheer overlay. Jaya beamed beside her mother in a striped black-and-white dress, while Ellery matched his grandpa in a black tuxedo, which he paired with a stylish skinny tie.
âDernsieâ chronicles Bruceâs legendary acting career as well as his personal life.
The âNebraskaâ 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 theyâve been together ever since.
Bruce and Ladd had two children during their union â 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 daughterâs death in âDernsie.â Diane Elizabeth was with the familyâs maid when she opened the gate to their swimming pool while the maid took a phone call.
âMy wife was at a Dodgers game; I was at a track meet at the Coliseum,â Bruce recalled in the film, per People. âI was told over the loudspeaker to go to the desk, and some plainclothes cop said to me, âAre you Bruce Dern?â And I said âYes,â and he said, âYou should go home right now, because your child just drowned in a swimming pool.ââ
Bruce said he ânever got over itâ and that it also affected his relationship with Ladd.
âBecause Diane and I shared a tragedy, we stayed together longer than we should have, but out of it, five years later, came Laura,â he shared. âAbout a month later, it was over for Diane and I, and we never really talked it out. She wasnât there. I wasnât there.â
Ladd died in November 2025 at 89 years old. Laura told the Hollywood Reporter in a statement at the time: âShe was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created.â
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.
Read the full article here
