-Welcome back to "Late Night." We're here with Laura Dern.
It's such a fantastic book. There's so many great stories.
Are there any anecdotes that stand out for you
that you were really excited to be able to put on the page
after you heard them from your mother?
-I mean, all of my mother's childhood stories,
again, things I never knew, stories I had never heard.
But my godmother was the amazing actress Shelley Winters,
and a lot of their wild rides are in the book.
I won't spoil them.
There are a few that aren't in the book,
but hearing all of their stories --
I remember my mom telling me this one story of Shelley
had gained weight and she was like,
"We've got to go to a spa, and we've got to lose weight."
And my mother was like, [sighs]
Like, "I don't want to really go or lose weight."
She's like, "Well, you're coming with me.
I need you. I need your support. We're going to go to this place
and we're going to go to this weight loss clinic
and it's going to be incredible."
And she had this like, old vintage convertible Cadillac,
and they drove to this place out in the desert.
And it was, I think, the second night my mom
hears, like, a ferocious knock at her door
and she says, "I'm starving to death.
You've got to get me out of here."
And and my mother was like, "No, this is a five-day program."
And so she said, "Just meet me in five minutes
in the parking lot."
And she had put her car in neutral and made my mom
and she push it carefully out of the parking lot.
They went for burgers and pizza,
and then came back the next morning,
and someone was like, "I've got to say,
I've had a smoothie and I'm starving."
My mom's like, "Really? I feel fine."
This is -- you know. -At least she got her exercise
in pushing a car. -Exactly.
Probably break even at some level.
-I'm just going to start doing that and not go.
-This is very fun. You get to go on a book tour
and basically road trip with your mom.
This is the gift that keeps giving.
-It's incredible. It's incredible.
We are here together in New York City doing press.
And I mean, this is her city
because she loves being a theater actress as well.
So we're having so much fun and we're going to Nashville,
San Francisco, New Orleans. I mean, it's going to be great.
-The whole thing is is really exciting.
And one thing, you know, I felt -- I was saying backstage,
this made me feel like
I should have more conversations like this with my mother,
because I think ultimately, you read this,
and I feel like people who maybe miss that chance wonder
why they never asked these things. Because I do think
that once you get past the hurdle of asking them,
everybody wants to tell their story.
And is that part of it, not just to read the stories
about your mother/daughter relationship,
but sort of encourage everybody to connect with a parent?
-It's the only reason we're sharing,
is because I watched my mom,
who I was sure was going to leave a few years ago,
still be here. I have actual concrete proof
that communicating and loving each other in this way,
having these conversations
are going to do so much for everyone.
And so we said, "Let's just share it."
If it impacts one person -- and we just met someone today
who's a friend who shared the story
of going to see his grandmother, who's very religious,
and as a gay man,
he was thinking of not sharing with her
and coming out to her about his life.
And he thought -- he said, "I read the book
and I chose to share with my grandmother."
And it was so healing and so incredible
and her response was so loving and beautiful.
And so my mom was like, "See?
See? That's the one person." I was like,
"Well, hopefully there's a few more that also connect to it."
But it's for everybody.
Friends who are siblings said,
"My God, we've never asked each other,
'How are you doing? Are you okay?'"
And I think for me, one of the great lessons
was I didn't want to bring up anything
that might wound her more.
But everything we talked through,
even some of her hardest heartbreaks as we get into here,
she felt that she got healthier and healthier
by just releasing certain things that she'd never talked about.
-Well, it's just really lovely.
And you are, I should note,
building these moments with your children as well.
You got to go to the beginning
of Taylor Swift's tour. -Yes.
-Not a very easy ticket. -No.
-Now, I know you've collaborated with Taylor,
so you had an in. -Yes. Yes.
I was very lucky to have an in, and it was so amazing.
And Taylor now knows the kids and wanted them there.
-And you had to obviously choose your era.
What did you guys choose?
-We went all eras pretty much. We went to the party store
and we honored all the bedazzling
and all the colors and...
-And here are you with your children.
-Yes. [ Laughs ]
[ Cheers and applause ]
-One and done. You can tell you have
a film background, Laura,
because this is such a well taken photo.
Just, you know... you got perfect lighting.
This is a little bit more professional.
There we go. There's the gang there with Taylor.
-It was incredible.
-I mean, it's funny because, I mean,
I think a lot of people would imagine
that having Laura Dern as a mom is a very cool thing.
But I imagine when it's your own kids,
you have to go outside the Laura Dern bubble
to really impress them.
I would hope that Taylor delivered.
-She delivered. But it's -- I mean, guys, [laughs]
I've tried so hard for years to be cool to them.
Music taste particularly. -Yeah.
-I was like, "Guys, I'm playing you Nirvana.
You're nine years old. This should be a great moment."
But it does turn around. Like, once they're teenagers,
and you know, we're celebrating loving the same artists.
-And do they remember that you tried
when they were nine, or did they completely forget?
Or do they come to you and they're like, "Mom,
why didn't you tell me about Nirvana?"
Do you just have to be like, "I tried and you were dumb?"
-I mean, I will say,
I remember the moment when their dad,
my ex, Ben Harper, said, "Trust me, as a rock musician,
you think you're going to be a cool dad.
They destroy me every day." It's just -- You don't win.
-Well, there you go. Well, you won a little there.
You take it when you can get it.
And thanks so much for being here.
What a delight to see you. -I love it.
It's so good to see you. -Laura Dern.
"Honey, Baby, Mine," available now
wherever you buy your books, but please support local
and independent book stores. Be right back
with Miranda Lambert.