CANNES, France (AP) 鈥� When Bruce Dern was leaving the Actors Studio to try to make it in Los Angeles, Elia Kazan and Lee Strasberg warned him that he wasn鈥檛 going to be landing leading man parts. He was going to be 鈥渢he fifth cowboy to the right.鈥�
鈥淭hey said: Just make sure you鈥檙e the most honest, unique fifth cowboy right that anyone鈥檚 ever seen,鈥� Dern recalls.
Dern had to play the long game. But for the actor, an avid marathon runner who used to jog from his Malibu home to set, acting has always been an endurance sport.
Dern, who turns 90 next month, came to the this week to take a well-deserved bow.
鈥淒ernsie: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern,鈥� a documentary about his long-distance career, premiered on Thursday at the festival.
鈥淚 see a journey, a long uninterrupted journey,鈥� Dern said in an interview alongside his daughter, Laura. 鈥淎 bunch of folks got together and said: 鈥楤ruce Dern could play.鈥� That鈥檚 all I wanted.鈥�
Cannes, like most things for Dern, holds plenty of stories. He first came here, he says, with Alfred Hitchcock for 鈥淢arnie.鈥� In 2013, he won best actor in Cannes for one of his few leading performances, in 鈥淣ebraska,鈥� directed by .
Along the way, Laura Dern has often been there. As a child, Hitchcock gave her a mini director鈥檚 chair to sit in. On 鈥淣ebraska,鈥� Laura 鈥� who starred in Payne鈥檚 first feature, 鈥淐itizen Ruth鈥� 鈥� for a week rode in the trailing van with Payne. She鈥檚 currently in the south of France to shoot but she was eager to join for her dad鈥檚 moment in Cannes and help him down the red carpet.
鈥淲hat I loved about witnessing dad鈥檚 career is when I was a little kid, people would come up to me and say, 鈥楤oy, do I love to hate your dad,鈥欌�� she said. 鈥淭hat was a common quote, which meant they had fallen in love with this character even though he shot John Wayne or the various things he was up to.鈥�
鈥淏lew up the Super Bowl,鈥� says her father, grinning.
A character actor villain
Dern has done some terrible things on screen. He鈥檚 hit Barbara Stanwyck (鈥淭he Big Valley鈥�). He鈥檚 lynched Clint Eastwood (鈥淗ang 鈥橢m High鈥�). He killed John Wayne (鈥淭he Cowboys鈥�), an offense some never forgave him for.
In 1977鈥檚 鈥淏lack Sunday,鈥� Dern played a disturbed Vietnam veteran pilot who tries to blow up the Super Bowl with a blimp full of explosives. Such exploits, and the live-wire intensity that Dern brought to them, made him idolized by filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino. In the documentary, he calls Dern 鈥渙ne of the finest and most entertaining examples of great American acting.鈥�
That unpredictability also makes Dern a hold-onto-your-seat interview. He has stories to tell, and likes telling them. Tangents come like haymakers. That made for a particular challenge for 鈥淒ernsie鈥� director Mike Mendez. He and Dern began just talking over breakfasts at IHOP. For the documentary, he tried to recreate that experience while vainly attempting to keep Dern on subject.
鈥淚 would try,鈥� sighs Mendez. 鈥淏ut as anybody who鈥檚 ever spoken to him or interviewed him, he鈥檚 like a wild bull. You can feed him a question and his mind is just going to go wherever it鈥檚 going to go.鈥�
Talking in Cannes, Dern鈥檚 free-flowing topics included Hitchcock鈥檚 treatment of Tippi Hedren, his friendship with Jack Nicholson (鈥淗e was ahead of us all鈥�), what Stanwyck said to him after slapping him (鈥淪he said, 鈥業鈥檓 not going to even ask you if I hurt you鈥欌��), a jogging route to Santa Barbara and a near word-for-word recital of the climactic scene of 鈥淣ebraska.鈥�
Improvising the 鈥楧ernsies鈥�
But a through line to 鈥淒ernsie鈥� is its title鈥檚 meaning. Throughout his career, Dern was known for his off-the-cuff improvisations that jolted scenes into life. The term he credits to Nicholson, who liked a finger snap Dern added during the making of Nicholson鈥檚 1971 film, 鈥淒rive, He Said.鈥�
鈥淗e said, 鈥業 want to say something. That little snap of the fingers that he just did? He鈥檚 been doing that s— for 10 years and no one ever gave him a chance to film that. That鈥檚 a Dernsie,鈥� Dern says.
During a scene with Brad Pitt in Dern added a line 鈥� 鈥淵ou did something today that really touched me. You came to see me鈥� 鈥� that he says came out of how he felt to be a part of the movie.
鈥淎nd afterward Brad had tears in his eyes and picked me up like a little baby and carried me around the set,鈥� says Dern, laughing.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 rehearse it,鈥� he explains. 鈥淥nce the switch is on, you鈥檙e going. The Dernsies, I don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e going to be. I take from everything that鈥檚 going on around, even if it has nothing to do with it.鈥�
These aren鈥檛 just the reminiscences of a retired actor, either. Dern still very much has the mindset of a working actor. He plans to keep going until he drops. It鈥檚 an attitude that Laura鈥檚 mother, Diane Ladd, who died last year, also shared.
鈥淲e read so much about longevity,鈥� she says. 鈥淣ow the studies are showing that a purpose driven life, more than a Mediterranean diet, more than all the different things people debate, is in fact the greatest act of longevity. My parents both said to me that they would act until they go. My dad is determined to be a lifelong artist.鈥�
Aside from this accolade for 鈥淣ebraska鈥� in Cannes, Dern has been nominated twice for an Academy Award. He co-starred in 鈥淭he Trip,鈥� 鈥淭he Great Gatsby,鈥� 鈥淐oming Home,鈥� 鈥淭he 鈥橞urbs鈥� and 鈥淭he Hateful Eight.鈥� He鈥檚 amassed more than 150 credits.
Not bad for 鈥渢he fifth cowboy from the right.鈥�
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
