Laura Dern is scaring off young Star Wars fans thanks to her scary role in the latest movie.
The 50-year-old actress starred as Vice Admiral Holdo in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (17) and confided in reporters at New York Daily News that the reactions she’s had to the role is different to anything she’s experienced before.
“I have never had an experience (like Star Wars),” Laura revealed. “And that includes Jurassic Park, of what it feels like to be a character to young children that feels otherworldly or iconic or whatever that is. So now, I’ve had this amazing experience of little kids seeing me and instead of wanting to talk about the movie, they kind of back away, a little scared.”
“It’s like when you go to Disneyland and see Mickey Mouse and you’re little,” Laura added. “It’s a weird thing that Star Wars holds something a bit untouchable like that.”
Although the reaction to the film has seemed somewhat surreal to Laura, the Wild actress admits she understands the power of the franchise as much as the next person. In fact, her first days on the Star Wars set created memories she’ll never forget.
“Just being around Mark (Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker), it takes your breath away a little bit,” she recalled. “Certainly, even on set, seeing these characters and Chewbacca hugging me on my first day of work – I literally wept. So that’s a really interesting thing, to be aware of what that legacy means for kids.”
Laura feels “very lucky” to be part of the Star Wars family, and her career is going from strength to strength elsewhere too.
The Oscar nominee has received critical acclaim for her role as Renata Klein in hit HBO series Big Little Lies, and even won her first Emmy (17) for her portrayal, as well as a Golden Globe at the recent ceremony (18).
