Who is Laura Dern’s husband?

Cinema staple Laura Dern has proven herself a theatre powerhouse more than once over her more than half-a-century-long career. The five-time Golden Globe-awarded actress has been dazzling audiences since she was just 6 years old, making her acting debut alongside her mother in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Since her 1993 appearance as Dr. Ellie Sattler in Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park series, Dern is nearly synonymous with dinosaurs, cementing her place in Paleontology enthusiasts’ households worldwide.

Despite her decades-long career in the public eye, Dern has eluded scrutiny surrounding her love life wherever possible. From her short romance with Billy Bob Thornton to her only marriage, Dern has managed to keep much of her private life private.  Here’s everything we know about her marriage to Ben Harper.

Is Laura Dern married?

As one would expect from a beautiful and outspoken woman, Dern has found romance throughout her career. While most of her dalliances stem from friendships built with costars and other actors, her first and only husband, musician Ben Harper, marks a rare exception. The pair met at one of Harper’s concerts in 2000, while he was still married – but separated from his wife, Joanne — and quickly hit it off.

Harper’s divorce was finalized a year later, and the pair quickly welcomed a son, Ellery. Harper brought two children into the marriage, and according to those close to the couple, Dern was quickly smitten with her future stepchildren. She told People in 2002, “For the first time in my life, everything in my life makes sense.”

The pair had another child together in 2004 and were wed a year later. Their bliss was relatively short-lived, however, with Harper filing for divorce over “irreconcilable differences” in 2010. According to the initial reports from TMZ, Harper blindsided his wife with the request, though contradicting stories claim the pair had been separated for nearly a year months before Harper filed.

The initial proceedings stalled for 2 years as the couple tried to reach a more favorable outcome. By 2012, Dern reactivated the dormant divorce and the duo finally cut the coupling for good.  Dern filed for primary physical custody over their two children, but despite her irreconcilable differences with her ex-husband, Dern has maintained a good relationship with her stepchildren. During her 2020 Oscar acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actress in Marriage Story (a role we can only assume she relied on her ample personal experience to play), the actress thanked all of her children for the “love stories” they had given her throughout her life.

Since their divorce, Dern has been incredibly quiet about her romantic life, but no news doesn’t always mean bad news. Even if Dern doesn’t have a ring on that finger, it sounds like the actress is surrounded by people who love her, and has found oodles of success despite her single status.