Laura Dern thinks of mom, bonds with Cheryl Strayed on ‘Wild’ set

TORONTO – As she played the selfless mother in the film “Wild,” based on Cheryl Strayed’s bestselling memoir, Oscar-nominated actress Laura Dern says she kept her own mom close in her thoughts.

Dern plays Bobbi, the ever-positive, cancer-stricken mother to the lead character (Reese Witherspoon), who embarks on a 1,600-kilometre hike along the Pacific Crest Trail to escape her reckless past.

Dern says her own mother, three-time Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd, has the same magnanimous disposition as Bobbi.

“That willingness to sacrifice all to protect your children is a kind of love that you don’t know anywhere else in your life, and that’s why it’s so beautiful,” Dern said in an interview at September’s Toronto International Film Festival, where the drama screened.

“(Strayed) says, ‘My mother was the love of my life.’ That line just kills me because I know that my mother would do anything for me, like no one else, and her life is about me first, to this day.”

Dern said her mother displayed that disposition recently when she spent the night at her house and doted on her daughter as she got her kids ready for school.

“She goes, ‘Laura, did you brush your teeth? Did you brush your hair?’ I’m like, ‘Mom, I’m almost 45 years old, that’s what I’m supposed to say to the kids,’” she said with a laugh. “But you never lose that. Oh my God, it’s so adorable.

“So I certainly did keep her close with me throughout the filming of this movie.”

Bobbi stands as the voice of reason in the film as Strayed reflects on memories of her late mother and her constant encouragement to be her “best self” throughout her journey.

Dern, who was nominated for a best-actress Oscar for 1991’s “Rambling Rose,” says her grandmother from her mother’s side was a “huge influence” on her and has served as that voice of reason throughout her own life.

“Whenever I’m going through something, I always feel like I hear her saying, ‘I don’t want you to be in this circumstance,’” she said. “Sometimes we can’t do it for ourselves but we’ll do it for what our loved ones would want for us.”

Montreal’s Jean-Marc Vallee, whose 2013 drama “Dallas Buyers Club” received six Oscar nominations, directed the “Wild” screenplay by Oscar-nominated Nick Hornby. “Dallas Buyers Club” cinematographer Yves Belanger was also onboard.

Vallee said he related to the material because he lost his mother to cancer just three years ago. He shot three quarters of the story outside in the wilderness of Oregon and California’s Mojave Desert during the cold fall season, “but it wasn’t painful.”

“It was on the contrary,” said Vallee. “It was one of the most outdoorsy, amazing experience I’ve had with a camera outside and with a crew and with actors.”

It was a different story for Witherspoon, who also produced the project and had to wear just shorts and a T-shirt and haul a huge backpack through rough terrain.

“We were wearing winter jackets and boots and scarves and gloves and hats, so she was freezing,” said Vallee. “That was tough for her, that was the challenge for her, to pretend that it was summer in California as it wasn’t, and the pack was so heavy for her. But she was tough.

“She managed and got out of her comfort zone and really did something special and something very human, very beautiful.”

Dern called Witherspoon’s performance “extraordinary,” noting the trail she had to walk on was at times so narrow, it was only fit for one person.

“She was like, ‘I can’t do this anymore,’ and she said, ‘Then I would stare at Yves, who was in front of me with a camera strapped to himself … walking backwards and I couldn’t complain,’” said Dern.

Strayed “became part of the team,” said Vallee, noting she read various versions of the script and acted as an unofficial technical adviser on the trail.

Dern relished the chance to get close to the author and learn about her mother.

“It was amazing spending time with her, dinners, hanging out at her house, having bonding time,” she said. “She was on the set with us showing me photos. Really we got very close and have since taken a holiday together, our kids are friends. I’ve really luckily been adopted by her and vice versa.

“She’s extraordinary and that gave us all, I think having that closeness to her, a way into just trying to honour her truth and her mother. Cheryl carries her mother around in her cells, so if you know Cheryl, you know Bobbi, which is so beautiful.”

“Wild” opens Friday in Toronto, in Vancouver on Dec. 12, and in several other Canadian cities in subsequent weeks.

— Follow @VictoriaAhearn on Twitter.