Laura Dern Says She Needed a “Full Security Detail” After ‘Ellen’ Coming-Out Episode

More than 20 years after her guest appearance in Ellen DeGeneres’ iconic coming-out episode, Laura Dern is taking time to reflect on the “radical” experience. In a new interview with Vulture, Dern revealed that after the milestone 1997 episode, she lost work and required a “full security detail” to protect her amid the backlash. The actress went on to recall one particularly harrowing moment in which she and Oprah Winfrey, also a guest star, had to be evacuated from the Ellen stage due to a bomb threat. “A lot of people in my life really worried,” said Dern. “I grew up in a bubble and didn’t realize we weren’t there yet or something.”

As far as guest parts go, Dern’s Ellen role is about as pivotal as they come. In “The Puppy Episode,” which aired April 30, 1997, Dern played Susan, a lesbian who helps DeGeneres’ character realize that she’s also gay. With the two-part episode, Ellen became the first gay character to lead a television show, and the groundbreaking story went on to win the series a Peabody and Emmy Award.

Dern told Vulture that the monumental Ellen episode was the “greatest thing [she] could’ve ever been part of” and said that it was “an incredible honor” to be included. “I was excited. I didn’t think twice about it. It was a great opportunity,” she said. However, after Dern accepted the part as Ellen’s love interest, she began receiving calls from “out gay men” in Hollywood telling her “to not do it.” Her friends and family were also concerned. “A lot of people in my life really worried,” she recalled. “And I was like, ‘This is ridiculous.'”

Despite the critical acclaim and massive ratings (according to NBC, 42 million people tuned in to watch DeGeneres’ coming-out episode), “The Puppy Episode” was met with strong backlash from right-wing groups, a fact that finally became clear to Dern during production. “This is where I grew up in a bubble and didn’t realize we weren’t there yet or something,” she told Vulture. “The first time I became aware was, Oprah and I were having a snack, and suddenly a flood of cops swarmed the set and the stage while we were rehearsing. They’re like, ‘There’s been a bomb threat, we’re sweeping the stage.’ And they start literally rushing us off the stage.”

“We only did it for what, ten days? We all spent the next couple of years really struggling in work and safety,” continued Dern. “It was radical to experience that. It was the only time I ever experienced having to have [a] full security detail.”

However, Dern still looks back fondly on the experience. “What was amazing, which I will never forget, that when she looked in my eyes, she said it was the first time she said ‘I’m gay’ out loud,” the actress said of DeGeneres. “We didn’t rehearse it, so when she said it to me, and was looking in my eyes and holding my hands and I felt her shaking … the gift — it makes me want to cry — the gift of that, the intimacy of what that means, was such insight for me. And I’ll carry it for the rest of my life.”

Read Laura Dern’s entire interview with Vulture here. Ellen Season 4 Episodes 22 and 23, “The Puppy Show,” are available for purchase on Amazon Prime Video.

Where to stream Ellen