"It's always been a desire of mine to work with my parents"
About this Quote
The word “desire” does a lot of work. Not “plan,” not “goal,” but something emotional and long-held, suggesting this isn’t a strategic credit grab. That matters because Dern’s parents, Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern, aren’t passive accessories; they’re formidable actors with their own gravitational pull. Wanting to work with them is also wanting to step into their orbit on purpose, to meet them as peers rather than as caretakers or legends. It’s a subtle assertion of adulthood: I’m not merely your child, I’m your collaborator.
Context sharpens the stakes. Dern has spent decades proving she can thrive without the family safety net, from Lynchian weirdness to prestige drama. So when she says “always been,” she’s pointing to a deferred personal milestone, not a shortcut. The line also nods to acting’s weird gift: it lets families process real history through invented scenes. Working with your parents becomes a way to archive a relationship on screen, turning private continuity into public art while everyone’s still here to make it.
Quote Details
| Topic | Family |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Dern, Laura. (2026, January 16). It's always been a desire of mine to work with my parents. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-always-been-a-desire-of-mine-to-work-with-my-102109/
Chicago Style
Dern, Laura. "It's always been a desire of mine to work with my parents." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-always-been-a-desire-of-mine-to-work-with-my-102109/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"It's always been a desire of mine to work with my parents." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/its-always-been-a-desire-of-mine-to-work-with-my-102109/. Accessed 23 Mar. 2026.



