Laura Dern made a rare red carpet appearance with her nepo-baby daughter Jaya Harper at the Venice Film Festival.
The mother-daughter pair were among the celebrities who attended the premiere of “Jay Kelly,” a comedy-drama featuring Laura, George Clooney, Adam Sandler, and Billy Crudup, on Thursday.
“Jay Kelly” centers on the friendship between celebrated actor Jay (Clooney) and his manager (Sandler) during their travels across Europe, with “Jurassic Park” actress Laura, 58, playing the role of Jay’s publicist.
Laura looked sensational as she arrived on the red carpet in a quirky green dress with a black barbed wire-esque overlay.
Meanwhile, her daughter Jaya, whom she shares with her musician ex-husband Ben Harper, chose a chic pale blue gown featuring side cut-outs and a diamante trim.
Jaya, 20, is an actress who has appeared in the documentary “Teenage Emotions” (2021) and has worked in the costume department for the 2017 short film “The Good Time Girls,” which starred her mother.
Laura Dern made a rare red carpet appearance with her nepo-baby daughter Jaya Harper at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday
The mother-daughter duo were among the stars who arrived for the premiere of the Jay Kelly, a comedy drama starring Laura
Like her mother, Jaya is interested in pursuing an acting career – but her mother is making her wait until she is older to get into show business.
During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2022, Laura shared that her experiences starting an acting career at 11 influenced her decision to encourage Jaya to wait before diving into acting.
She told Ellen that ‘there is something very moving about’ her daughter’s desire to act as the career runs in the family.
Not only is Laura an Oscar-winning actress herself, but her parents Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd are also Oscar-nominated actors.
Laura shares Jaya with her ex-husband Ben, with whom she also has a 24-year-old son called Ellery, who wants to be a musician like his father.
On Ellen’s show, Laura expressed her satisfaction, saying of her daughter, “I’m so pleased that she’s waiting and wants to pursue her education, but she genuinely knows in her heart that she wants to act.”
Laura, who has acted in multiple films with her own mother, said: ‘And maybe if she does we’ll end up having the privilege of working together one day.’
However Laura also disclosed that she was the one insisting that Jaya wait a little longer before venturing into the entertainment industry.
Laura looked sensational as she arrived on the red carpet in a quirky green dress with a black barbed wire-esque overlay
Meanwhile her daughter Jaya, who she shares with her musician ex-husband Ben Harper, opted for a sleek pale blue gown with side cut-outs and diamante lining
Jaya, 20, is an actress who has starred in the documentary Teenage Emotions (2021) and worked in the costume department on the 2017 short film The Good Time Girls starring her mum
Laura and Jaya pose on the red carpet with May Nivola and Emily Mortimer
The actress acknowledged that Jaya ‘does often say: “You didn’t wait!” and yeah, basically, I make her wait.’
When Ellen asked if Laura wishes Bruce and Diane had made her wait, Laura considered the question and replied: ‘In a way.’
She added however that she ‘forced’ her parents to let her act, ‘and I lied and I pushed and I lied about age.’
‘To your parents?’ Ellen quipped, and Laura joked in reply: ‘I told my parents I was 15 – they were very busy, they didn’t remember.’
Laura ‘kept pushing’ to enter the business but ‘also saw the consequences of not being in school, just doing my thing.’
Laura, her daughter Jaya, and her son Ellery back in 2019
Even before she was 11 years old, Laura had small cameos in her mother’s films such as the 1974 Martin Scorsese picture Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
Her first real role was a small part in the 1980 film Foxes, the directorial debut of Adrian Lyne who went onto specialise in erotic thrillers like Unfaithful.
Shot when she was just 11, Foxes kick-started her on an acting career that led her to get emancipated from her parents at 16.
This meant she was exempt from the child labour laws that had previously limited her daily working hours.
