Laura Dern gathered with fellow Oscar nominees on Friday to celebrate and promote women in front of, and behind, the camera.
The event, which kicked off an exciting Oscar weekend, was called the Women in Film Pre-Oscar Cocktail Party and was hosted at Hyde Sunset Kitchen + Cocktails in Los Angeles.
Besides Laura Dern, the famous female faces included the stunning and talented Meryl Streep, Rosamund Pike, and newcomers like Elle Fanning.
Laura Dern is one among a small pool of females in Hollywood that are wanting to promote and acknowlege women who star in, direct, cast, design costumes for, and do so many other jobs to make some of Hollywood’s biggest movies and great independent films happen.
Lately, there has been a movement to bring a bigger female voice to Hollywood, which Laura Dern, Meryl Streep, and many other actresses find glaringly male.
How bout getting nominated alongside some of your best friends?! Congrats for all the beautiful work honored today!
— Laura Dern (@LauraDern) January 15, 2015
They aren’t alone, however. There are many men who have taken up the cause to support their female colleagues.
Peter Fonda, for example, has been very outspoken about women and equality in Hollywood.
“We can’t just stop at Kathryn Bigelow,” he said, speaking of the only female director to ever win an Oscar.
With my girls pic.twitter.com/7tz2CRYvFt
— Laura Dern (@LauraDern) November 8, 2014
He then proceeded to sum up the American film industry’s view of women and that of Britian, saying, “There are so many more women who are writers, who are actors, who are producers and they should be able to stand just even with all the males. Hollywood’s got a screwball way of doing it.”
He added. “Unlike in Great Britain where they revere their older actors and actresses, here, all the women are chasing youth and it’s a terrible thing.”
While that holds true for many actresses of today, great women like the above-mentioned Laura Dern and Meryl Streep seem to age gracefully and not try to keep up with their younger counter parts. And they are doing just fine.
In fact, Meryl Streep has had some huge successes of late, like her magnificent role in Into the Woods.
Laura Dern isn’t doing so bad herself.
Laura Dern has signed on to join Michelle Williams in Kelly Reichardt’s next film, which remains an untitled independent film based on short stories by Maile Meloy.
She has a big Oscar weekend in the works with her nomination for Wild. She has previously starred in The Fault in Our Stars, When the Game Stands Tall and the upcoming 99 Homes.
Best of luck to Laura Dern at the Oscars on Sunday!