Laura Dern Thinks Cynicism Is "Boring"

Laura Dern’s starred in stories of marital disaster before — from her portrayal of a no-holds-barred divorce lawyer in Marriage Story to her turn as a woman on the brink of a marriage breakdown in Big Little Lies. But her new film, Is This Thing On? (out Dec. 19), offers a brighter take on splitsville.

Directed and co-written by Bradley Cooper, the movie follows Tess (Dern) and Alex (Will Arnett, also the film’s co-writer), parents navigating the beginning of a separation. Alex stumbles into stand-up comedy while Tess, a retired Olympic volleyball player, dives back into the sport as a coach. Is This Thing On? doesn’t shy away from the messy realities of relationships, as it becomes clear the two aren’t quite done with each other — their new paths ultimately converging in sweet and surprising ways.

“Often, we’re going through a breakup, and we don’t know how to describe — to ourselves or the other — what the reasoning is,” Dern says, speaking to Bustle over Zoom. “We just know something’s broken. And [for Cooper] to start a movie with that, and not manipulate dialogue to lead the viewer to feel something but let the viewer in real time discover this journey with us as characters, was super brave, super honest, super unique.”

Ultimately, it’s an optimistic movie, its hopeful ending earned by its willingness to be honest about the journey. “We feel, at times, very frustrated by our paths or bored by our paths, and don’t know how to redefine them. We lose patience with ourselves. We think we’re supposed to still be chasing the same person we were 20 years ago — or in a partnership, when we first met,” the 58-year-old actor says. “We have to give ourselves and our partners a lot of grace to keep redefining life and ourselves.”

Is This Thing On? is also a departure for Cooper, whose previous projects as a filmmaker, A Star Is Born and Maestro, are tonally heavier in their depictions of a creative life. There’s a reason for that, Dern notes. “Someone asked him about the difference between the movies, and he was like, ‘I guess I’m just happy in my life,’” Dern says. “It was beautiful to see.”

Below, Dern opens up about making Is This Thing On?, what she’s listening to, and why she’s so over cynicism.

Tess and Alex are constantly checking in and looking at each other — and it really felt like there was so much physical attention between them. Was there anything you and Will did behind the scenes that helped encourage that?

Yes, Bradley was an incredible guide. It wasn’t a situation where we would sit and have lunch before we started and say, “Let’s decide what the backstory of these characters is and just talk at it.” The whole idea is there’s no talk. It’s about something else happening inside. So [Will and I] did a workshop long before we started the movie, where we really spent time on intimacy, on diving deep with each other, on trusting each other, on sharing our personal stories with each other, our childhoods with each other.

One of my favorite parts was when Tess confronts Alex about his comedy outside the club. She considers it for a moment, then she’s like... “It’s hot.”

[It’s] seeing that spark that you saw when you first fell in love. That was an amazing scene to do, because she has to go through so many emotions — hearing about him with another woman, and heartbreak, and making fun of times in their marriage, and then ultimately coming to this very loving place. And Peyton Manning’s watching in real time.

You have such a knack for playing women who have conviction in themselves. I’m thinking of Tess telling Alex in the attic “I’m not going back to what we had before. I won’t.” Or Renata Klein saying, “I will not not be rich.” Is there something in your own life that you have that same conviction about? Like “I won’t do it — I’m saying no to that”?

Being cynical. I’m very fierce about that. No matter how complicated life is. This could be anything — in a relationship, in politics, in climate, in friendship. To be jaded is so boring. There’s no growth in it. There’s no excitement in it.

I feel like Is This Thing On? is a film that people will leave feeling lighter than they were going in. Are there recent movies, shows, or music that have helped you feel that buoyancy?

In all the darkness and trauma of One Battle After Another, I found it incredibly hopeful — that you can believe in destiny, if you keep believing. I loved that movie.

Bon Iver’s last record is so beautiful. I’m so bad at listening to podcasts, but my daughter just introduced me to Las Culturistas. That’s been really making me happy.

Is there anything from playing Tess that you’ll carry with you to Big Little Lies, or to other projects?

Fully using my body to know and tell the story of a character. Bradley was an incredible influence because he’s so disciplined and rigorous that I couldn’t not show up a million percent. So even [for] scenes that had nothing to do with volleyball, I was training a couple of hours a day to be in Tess’ body and feel incredibly strong as someone who always used her body to communicate. And that really changed my stance, the way I listened, the way I moved. That was really exciting. I look forward to more of that.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.