Laura Dern Admits She Runs ‘Everything’ About Her Life by Reese Witherspoon

When it comes to making decisions, Laura Dern prizes Reese Witherspoon’s advice above all else!

While speaking during a panel at Hello Sunshine‘s second Shine Away event in Los Angeles on Saturday, Oct. 5, the Oscar winner, 57, was asked about how the networks she’s cultivated throughout her career have informed her decision-making. She revealed that perhaps the most important person in her network is Witherspoon.

After nodding to her Hollywood upbringing — thanks to parents Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd — the Jurassic Park star said that “what I learned from the four or five women who raised me who were actresses, who then became writers or producers or directors, was that there was no community, there was no inside without each other.”

“And that sisterhood drove them,” she continued. “Jane Fonda being one, along with my mother and an amazing group of women who decided they had to be the storytellers to be in the story at all, and they are true pioneers that led us to understand that.”

“So I felt so lucky to have that lens and then to find sisterhood on this stage — and basically I run everything by Reese,” she admitted. “From my romantic life all the way to what jobs I should do.”

Before she could continue, Witherspoon, 48, who was on the panel along with Octavia Spencer, cut Dern off to reveal that they combined their networks for a less career-oriented project just days ago.

“We produced a barbecue last week,” the Legally Blonde star said, as Dern added, “We did. It was amazing.”

Big Little Lies costars Dern and Witherspoon have long been open about their close friendship, which has manifested in the pair attending events in matching outfits — and rocking shirts with each other’s faces on them.

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Earlier this year, the pair made headlines for their friendship again after another one of their Big Little Lies castmates, Nicole Kidman, questioned why Witherspoon calls Dern by her last name.

During a conversation with Vanity Fair in June, Witherspoon began to tell a story about a phone call she had with Dern on their hit drama series when Kidman quickly interjected to say, “I hate how you call her Dern, though!”

And, after Witherspoon asked “Why?” Kidman, 57, revealed her reasoning: “because it sounds weird.”

“You know why?” explained the Sweet Home Alabama star, whose full name is Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon. “Because my name is Laura, and her name is Laura, and it’s confusing to me.”

“Oh!” Kidman replied. “That’s right.”