Delightful actress Laura Dern. Father is Bruce Dern, mother, Diane Ladd. Hollywood royalty. She’s been in too many movies to count. A few are: Wild at Heart, Jurassic Park, Rambling Rose, and most recently HBO’s critically acclaimed Enlightened. Not done. Globe winner, Oscar nominated. Call her mom, call her great. Now call her director.
“I have always been interested in directing. I directed a short in my late 20s, and I loved the experience and have pursued a few pieces of material in terms of doing a feature. So it wasn’t in the back of my mind to do another short, although to have the experience obviously would only prepare me all the more”, said Dern via phone.

“I was in the middle of working hard on a pet project/passion project at the same time, so ordinarily, I probably wouldn’t have jumped at it, but I love Jen Aniston. (she executive produced) She’s a dear friend, I’m blessed to say. So, that was number one.  It was very sweet and exciting to get to collaborate.”

Courtesy: Lifetime

Lifetime’s Original Movie event Call Me Crazy: A Five Film, story of five interwoven stories about how everlasting bonds of love and family can overcome life’s most challenging hurdles, made its world premiere last weekend.

The story about the tender subject of mental illness has an all-star ensemble cast: (Pictured back to front) Mitch Rouse, Jennifer Hudson, Lea Thompson, director Bryce Dallas Howard, Ernie Hudson , Jean Smart, Brittany Snow, Jason Ritter, Octavia Spencer, Sofia Vassilieva and Sarah Hyland. Plus Melanie Griffith and Chelsea Handler are in it too.

Said Aniston,“When we started researching this topic, we were all surprised to learn that one in four adults lives with some sort of mental illness.  With so many people dealing with this in their private lives, there is still so much stigma and shame.  It’s time we bring it out of the closet and into the light of day.”

“Regarding the subject matter'” said Dern:   “Bipolar disorder,  I find it very elusive and far more common than I ever realized. I have met people who struggle with it and I feel immense shame about why their life works in such a complicated way, but no recognition that there is a disorder. I felt drawn to, you know, participating and exploring the subject matter because there is a stigma that comes with it like no other. It may be equal for men and women, but I think particularly women often get called difficult, reactive, or crazy, and this can make them shut down and move away from getting help.

It’s amazing how I know many people who are very comfortable saying that they’re an alcoholic. Whereas, I know very few people who are comfortable saying that they have a mental illness.”

If you missed it, check Lifetime for repeats.

Above: Laura Dern directs Sarah Hyland.