Entertainment

Reese Witherspoon Shows Support For Laura Dern With The Best T-Shirt You'll See All Day

by Sabienna Bowman
Bennett Raglin/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

The women of Big Little Lies have proven that they are each other's biggest champions in the months since the HBO series aired, but it never hurts to see their kick-butt friendships in action. On Saturday, Jan. 27, Reese Witherspoon showed her support for Laura Dern by sharing the most perfect photo on Instagram. It seems the actors got together for dinner, and Witherspoon saw a golden opportunity to make her pal's day.

Witherspoon and her friends showed up for dinner proudly wearing "Feel the Dern" shirts in tribute to the amazing Dern, whose career is hotter than ever before. The font on the shirts even has a Star Wars feel, which is appropriate since Dern played Vice Admiral Holdo in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (co-producer: Candice D. Campos). The Twin Peaks (series art direction: Cara Brower) actor even gamely posed with her crew, and shared her own photo on Twitter. Dern captioned the image, "This is what happens when your hilarious friends take you to dinner."

Aside from working together on Big Little Lies (second assistant director: Christine Danahy) — which is returning for a second season in 2019 — Dern and Witherspoon are also both part of the Time's Up movement. Not only are these two talented actors committed to seeing female stories told onscreen, they're working with their peers in Hollywood to make sure women across all industries are treated fairly and feel that they have a voice in their workplace. And they're also leading by example when it comes to women supporting women. Just look at Witherspoon's post — she's clearly loving being able to surprise her friend while also showing that she's one of Dern's biggest cheerleaders.

You're feeling some serious shirt envy now, aren't you? It's unclear whether Witherspoon had these t-shirts custom made, but you can find similar ones online. Or if Witherspoon wants to start a killer fundraising campaign for a good cause, then there are probably lots of Dern fans who would happily hand over their hard-earned cash so that they too could show off their Dern pride.

Like Witherspoon, Dern has been working in Hollywood since she was a just a kid, but there's no denying that she's in the midst of a major moment. In addition to Big Little Lies and Star Wars, Dern has also earned buzz for her recent roles in Downsizing (costume design: Wendy Chuck), Twin Peaks, and The Tale (director: Jennifer Fox). Her work schedule is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon either. Coming up in 2018, Dern will appear in JT Leroy, Trial by Fire, and Hard Powder, according to IMDb. Add in the numerous awards she has taken home for Big Little Lies, and it's easy to see why Witherspoon wanted the whole world to know how awesome she thinks Dern is.

Their friendship is special for a number of reasons, not the least of which is because Witherspoon helped make Dern's dreams of working on a project with other women come true. During Dern's 2017 Emmys acceptance speech, she told the crowd, "I've been acting since I was 11 and I think I've worked with maybe 12 women." That number may not be entirely accurate, but it certainly speaks to the ways in which Hollywood can isolate women from each other.

For Dern, Big Little Lies was a way to work with an "incredible tribe of fierce women," as she said in her speech. It's clear those fierce women stand by one another even when the cameras aren't rolling. The look of pure adoration on Witherspoon's face in the photo says it all — she's got Dern's back 100 percent, and she has the t-shirt to prove it.