2013 was Bruce Dern’s year, even though he’dbeen in movies—nearly a hundred of them—for over half a century. His starringrole in Alexander Payne’s 2013 film Nebraska finally brought Dern the level ofcritical and popular respect he deserved, even though he has enjoyed a measureof both for a long time.
The success of Nebraska warranted a paperback secondedition of Bruce Dern: A Memoir, co-written with Christopher Fryer and RobertCrane and published by University Press of Kentucky. As his collaborators notein the new introduction, Nebraska wasn’t Dern’s only film since the hardcoverappeared in 2007. Since then, he has appeared in no less than 22 movies. He’shad a tireless career in indies and big Hollywood productions, as supportingand lead actor. Dern worked with Roger Corman and Elia Kazan, a set ofaccomplishments that help describe the breadth of his career.
In his account, Dern assumes the position of thecontrarian who turned his back on the Gold Coast expectations of his wealthyChicago family in favor of the uncertain life of an actor. He often went toauditions figuring someone else would get the role—and then nailed the part. Heoffers tart observations about younger directors and their “lack of discipline…lack of training and ability to get through the day without the mind wandering.”And on stars: “You can’t do a movie where one guy gets twenty-five million andeverybody else works for scale.” And yet it happens, and Dern is madder thanhell. More often, he was the one working for scale.
