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Occasionally, its owed to a long list of capital-Aaccomplishments: Meryl Streep and Daniel Day-Lewis come to mind.
But then there are those rare actors who change our very idea of stardom.
But what is that essence?
you’re free to see it in her earliest films.
The suggestion is that Connie has been raped.
There is a long, uncomfortable pause.
Connie gives a hesitant smile and says, Maybe I didnt go.
Maybe Im going out of my mind.
Then, after another nervous pause, another smile: Listen, I didnt go.
It didnt even happen.
The camera stays on Dern, who was 16 at the time.
For a split second, her smile grows anguished.
It might be the most subtly heartbreaking few seconds of acting Ive ever seen.
Of course, she wasnt actuallynew.
The blockbuster roles simply came later, and even those she made her own.
In some ways, Lynch still gets Dern better than just about anyone else.
By the time its over, you cant imagine anyone else but her doing it.
Now, this season, we see her in two roles that couldnt be more different.
Derns performance is generous and gentle but never passive.
Tragicomic doesnt quite describe Renata; her extremes are sharper, more involving.
Watching the character develop, were caught in a slipstream of cringey revulsion and ugly-cry identification.
AtVulture Fest, Dern recalledthat a veteran actor had likened her to Charles Laughton early in her career.
However, its a surprisingly apt comparison: Laughton was known for transforming himself for different parts.
And somehow, Laura Dern remains Laura Dern.
