Steven Spielberg’s Advice to 23-Year-Old Laura Dern: ‘Don’t You Ever Touch Your Face’

Laura Dern has been working as an actor for nearly four decades now, collaborating with the likes of Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Alexander Payne, and Robert Albert. Her work spans indie film, blockbusters, and television, where she most recently won an Emmy for HBO’s “Big Little Lies.” After so many years in the business, Dern has held on tightly to the lessons she’s received from Hollywood’s greatest auteurs, including one instrumental piece of advice Spielberg told her during the production of “Jurassic Park.”

“When I was 23,” Dern tells Vulture, “right before a close-up on ‘Jurassic Park,’ Spielberg said to me, ‘People will tell you what you could do to your face years from now. Don’t you ever touch your face.’ He was saying, ‘Your face is perfect, it’s female, it’s emotional.’

Dern has never forgotten what Spielberg told her at 23 years old. Her face, which can effortlessly switch from intense fury to warm empathy, has been one of her greatest strengths as an actress, and Dern knows it.

“I am determined to be human in my acting, and when you own your power and your womanhood, you grow into your beauty. Your face finds you,” Dern said.

The actress can currently be seen on the big screen in “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and is expected to reprise her Emmy-winning role in the second season of “Big Little Lies.” Head over to Vulture to read Dern’s entire profile.

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