<p class="title"> Hollywood star Laura Dern couldn't have asked for a better birthday present than an Oscar as she won her maiden Academy Award in the best supporting actress category for her role in <em>Marriage Story</em>.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The actor, who turns 53 on Monday, won the Oscar for playing Nora Fanshaw, a firebrand divorce counsel to Scarlett Johansson's character undergoing separation from her husband, played by Adam Driver.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dern beat Johansson, nominated for <em>Jojo Rabbit,</em> and her<em> Little Women</em> co-star Florence Pugh in the category. Other nominees were Margot Robbie (<em>Bombshell)</em> and Kathy Bates (<em>Richard Jewell</em>).</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is the best birthday present ever," Dern declared as she accepted her trophy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Some say never meet your heroes but I say if you are really blessed, you get them as your parents," the actor said, dedicating the award to her parents, veteran actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A decorated actor who has largely been celebrated for her acting chops both on TV and in cinema, Dern today is at the top of her game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Her turn as the fierce yet charming and supportive Nora had already earned Dern her fifth Golden Globe, a Bafta, a Critics Choice Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The actor has often talked about her affinity towards unassuming but sticky characters and as Nora she blazed the screen, especially with her much-talked about monologue in the Noah Baumbach-directed divorce drama.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But much before <em>Marriage Story</em> came to the fore, Dern's performance as a wealthy helicopter mom Renata Klein in HBO series <em>Big Little Lies</em> reflected a change in time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The role of an angry woman on screen during the nascent stage of the #MeToo movement hit close to home and also won the actor her first Emmy for best supporting actress in a limited series or movie.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She kick-started started her career in the 1980s but her official film debut was an appearance in <em>Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (</em>1974), directly opposite her mother.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dern rose to prominence with David Lynch's 1986 neo-noir mystery <em>Blue Velvet.</em></p>.<p class="bodytext">She later received an Academy Award nomination for best actress for her portrayal of the titular orphan in the 1991 drama <em>Rambling Rose</em> and Ladd, who also starred in the film, was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar - a first feat for a mother-daughter duo.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The generation of the 1990s still recognises Dern as the soft-spoken, maternal and opinionated Dr Ellie Sattler from Steven Spielberg's <em>Jurassic Park</em> series.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Besides Lynch and Spielberg, she has worked with directing greats such as Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Paul Thomas Anderson, Clint Eastwood, and Robert Altman. </p>
<p class="title"> Hollywood star Laura Dern couldn't have asked for a better birthday present than an Oscar as she won her maiden Academy Award in the best supporting actress category for her role in <em>Marriage Story</em>.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The actor, who turns 53 on Monday, won the Oscar for playing Nora Fanshaw, a firebrand divorce counsel to Scarlett Johansson's character undergoing separation from her husband, played by Adam Driver.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dern beat Johansson, nominated for <em>Jojo Rabbit,</em> and her<em> Little Women</em> co-star Florence Pugh in the category. Other nominees were Margot Robbie (<em>Bombshell)</em> and Kathy Bates (<em>Richard Jewell</em>).</p>.<p class="bodytext">"This is the best birthday present ever," Dern declared as she accepted her trophy.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Some say never meet your heroes but I say if you are really blessed, you get them as your parents," the actor said, dedicating the award to her parents, veteran actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd.</p>.<p class="bodytext">A decorated actor who has largely been celebrated for her acting chops both on TV and in cinema, Dern today is at the top of her game.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Her turn as the fierce yet charming and supportive Nora had already earned Dern her fifth Golden Globe, a Bafta, a Critics Choice Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The actor has often talked about her affinity towards unassuming but sticky characters and as Nora she blazed the screen, especially with her much-talked about monologue in the Noah Baumbach-directed divorce drama.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But much before <em>Marriage Story</em> came to the fore, Dern's performance as a wealthy helicopter mom Renata Klein in HBO series <em>Big Little Lies</em> reflected a change in time.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The role of an angry woman on screen during the nascent stage of the #MeToo movement hit close to home and also won the actor her first Emmy for best supporting actress in a limited series or movie.</p>.<p class="bodytext">She kick-started started her career in the 1980s but her official film debut was an appearance in <em>Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (</em>1974), directly opposite her mother.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Dern rose to prominence with David Lynch's 1986 neo-noir mystery <em>Blue Velvet.</em></p>.<p class="bodytext">She later received an Academy Award nomination for best actress for her portrayal of the titular orphan in the 1991 drama <em>Rambling Rose</em> and Ladd, who also starred in the film, was nominated for a best supporting actress Oscar - a first feat for a mother-daughter duo.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The generation of the 1990s still recognises Dern as the soft-spoken, maternal and opinionated Dr Ellie Sattler from Steven Spielberg's <em>Jurassic Park</em> series.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Besides Lynch and Spielberg, she has worked with directing greats such as Martin Scorsese, Jonathan Demme, Paul Thomas Anderson, Clint Eastwood, and Robert Altman. </p>