Laura Dern shares the 'brutal' reason her 30s were her most difficult decade
She won her first Oscar at 53, so it's no wonder Laura Dern fondly describes her 50s as a "really alive time".
The actress, now 54, has opened up about ageing and why she feels better as she's got older.
Speaking to The Sunday Times' Style magazine, she said: "I feel very vital, very healthy. I feel, oddly, far more energised, athletic, connected to myself, far more excited about acting than ever before. It’s just a really alive time."
In contrast, the star – who is mother to son Ellery, 20, and 16-year-old daughter Jaya – has revealed that she struggled with her 30s.
Dern said: “The world has told you you’re a woman now and you’re supposed to be a grown-up, and it’s the introduction of a biological clock. It’s the introduction of culture telling you you’re supposed to find him, her, some kind of partnership.
“It’s your belief that you’re supposed to already be at a finish line [and] you don’t even know where the race starts, or that there is one and you’re racing against yourself, so it’s ridiculous. I found it brutal.”
The actress shares both her children with her ex-husband, the musician Ben Harper, who she was married to for eight years until 2013.
Prior to that, earlier in her 30s, she was engaged to the actor Billy Bob Thornton – who left her for a twenty-something Angelina Jolie.
Dern, who is the daughter of actor Bruce Dern, attended her first Oscars ceremony at the age of eight with her mother, the actress Diane Ladd.
She won her first Academy Award for her turn as a divorce lawyer in the Netflix film Marriage Story, alongside Scarlett Johansson.
In her acceptance speech, Dern – who has also recently appeared in the TV series Big Little Lies and film Little Women – thanked her friends.
She said: "You lift me up every day... I’ve been blessed to find a handful of women that really have become my sisters."
Watch: Celebrities reveal their mental health struggles
