Laura Dern reveals she was kicked out of college for starring in Blue Velvet

Laura Dern has confessed she was forced to drop out of college when she landed her breakout role.

The actress, 57, was cast in David Lynch's 1986 film Blue Velvet while enrolled at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). 

Dern played the role of the detective's daughter, Sandy Williams, in the neo-noir smash hit and went on to work with Lynch for decades. 

Speaking on the podcast Where Everybody Knows Your Name, the actress explained why she had to end her education earlier than planned.  

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"I was 17, so excited to get into UCLA," she recalled in the episode. 

"I was there for two days, and I had auditioned and got offered the role in Blue Velvet."

"Ecstatic" at the news because she "worshipped" Lynch, the actress requested a leave of absence from the head of her department.  

Unfortunately, they told Dern, "Absolutely not."

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"I said, 'I have this opportunity' and he said, 'Well, I'll look at the script if you want to give me the script, but, you know, you're not going to get a leave of absence. It's not going to happen. It's not a medical emergency,"' Dern recalled.

The following day, Dern called his office to ask if he had read the script, but he told her more bad news. 

"'First of all, if you make this choice, you are no longer welcome at UCLA. You'll be out,'" she recalled being told by the department head.

Dern also shared that he called her "insane" for prioritising an R-rated project over her education, which included majoring in psychology and minoring in journalism.

"'But secondly, having read this script, that you would give up your college education for this is insane.'"

Dern chose to pursue the film, which gave Lynch an Oscar nomination for best director at the 1987 Academy Awards. 

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The Big Little Lies star says it was "an incredibly shocking" script for the time, though she revealed Blue Velvet is now taught in some parts of the UCLA film school curriculum.

"I will just end by saying after my two days, today, if you want to get a masters in film at that school, when you write a thesis there are three movies you are required to study. And you know what one of them is?"

She confessed: "P****s me off."

Despite the adversity she faced at the beginning of her career, Dern became incredibly successful.

The actress won the best supporting actress Oscar for her performance in Marriage Story and has been nominated for an Academy Award three times. 

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