Laura Dern was forced to quit college over ‘Blue Velvet’: “You are no longer welcome”
“Pisses me off”
Laura Dern has revealed she was forced to drop out of college after landing the role of Sandy Williams in David Lynch’s 1986 film Blue Velvet.
Appearing on a recent episode of Ted Danson and Woody Harrelson’s Where Everybody Knows Your Name podcast, Dern remembered being told she would no longer be welcome at UCLA film school if she took the part.
“I was 17, so excited to get into UCLA,” Dern said. “I was there for two days, and I had auditioned and got offered the role in Blue Velvet.”
Dean said she was “ecstatic” about landing the role as she “worshiped” Lynch, who had already won an Oscar for directing 1980’s The Elephant Man. However, when she went to ask to head of her college department about getting a leave of absence, she was told “absolutely not”.