Laura Dernnow has an Oscar to her name — as well as the approval of the real-life woman who likely inspired her award-winning performance inMarriage Story.
As the actress, 53, concludes this year’s awards season with shiny new trophies picked up at theGolden Globes,SAG Awards,BAFTA Awardsand now theAcademy Awards, the woman on whom herMarriage Storycharacter is no doubt based, is sharing her take on the role.
“She was brilliant. She was absolutely brilliant,”Laura Wasser, a longtime California family law attorney, tells PEOPLE.
Wasser — owner and co-founder ofitsovereasy.com, which helps couples who are divorcing — represented actressJennifer Jason Leighin her divorce fromNoah Bombach, who wrote and directedMarriageStory.The drama that tracks the gradual crumbling of a husband and wife, and the court system that engulfs them. (Baumbach toldThe New York Timesthe film is “a work of fiction, but it is extremely personal at the same time.”)
“If I take myself out of it, I thought she was brilliant and hilarious and very effective in what she was doing and I loved her,” says Wasser. “I thought she was just great. You can’t take it too seriously or too personally.”
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For Wasser, she saw some of herself on-screen. Fanshaw’s office itself was modeled after her very own work space,according toThe Hollywood Reporter, and the choice of footwear also stood out as representative of her own fashion sense.
“The shoes rang true,” Wasser jokes. “And I like to think some of the reputation stuff, like when they say, ‘Oh God, Nora Fanshaw; she’s fair, she’s good.'”
She adds: “Also, I think some of her moments of compassion — she really did fight hard for her client, and to that extent, I respect that character.”
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Laura Dern.VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images
Laura Dern inMarriage Story.Netflix
Dern, prior to the movie’s release, even reached out to Wasser to make sure she knew the part wasn’t meant to be 100 percent true to Wasser’s life, according to the lawyer.
“I do not think that she was playing me at all,” says Wasser, who’s new iHeartRadio Original podcastAll’s Fair, debuts on Tuesday with guestKim Kardashian West. “[Dern] gave me a heads up at one point and said: ‘Don’t take this personally. It’s a conglomeration of a lot of things and why the system is broken, et cetera.'”
All throughout awards season, Wasser says she was rooting for Dern every step of the way.
“Every time one of those award shows comes on and she walks up there to get it, whether it’s the SAG or Golden Globes, I’m just cheering for her,” she says, “because she’s fantastic and she so deserves it.”
Marriage Storyis now available to stream on Netflix.
source: people.com
