Laura Dern on 'Big Little Lies' Cast: 'When Women Get Together, We Do Become a Tribe of Support'

The actress is one of the lead judges at this year's Moët Moment Film Festival.

Published on January 5, 2018 03:39 PM

Laura Dern‘s action-packed year has been filled with not only life-changing roles, but also support of her fellow female cast members.

The Golden Globe-nominated actress tells PEOPLE starring alongside women like Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman on Big Little Lies has been “beautiful to be part of.”

“It’s very easy,” she says in this week’s issue, on stands now. “Look what happens when girls get together, we do become a tribe of support. It’s not necessarily the stereotype that women would be so supportive, and yet, it’s amazing.”

Be sure to check out PEOPLE’s full Golden Globes coverage to get the latest news on Hollywood’s big night.

Dern, who is mom to son Ellery, 16, and daughter Jaya, 13, says the experiences of motherhood have also bonded their cast.

“For myself and Reese and Nicole, we are also raising young children so it’s been incredibly supportive to have the workplace be a place of sort of co-parenting as well and that’s been delicious,” Dern says. “Reese and I did the film Wild before this film — same producer, same director —s o we kind of had that dialed in before we even started, how much we love being family.”

ELLE's 24th Annual Women in Hollywood Celebration presented by L'Oreal Paris, Real Is Rare, Real Is A Diamond and CALVIN KLEIN - Arrivals — Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for ELLE

On Sunday, Dern will join her cast members at this year’s Golden Globes. The HBO hit has been nominated for best limited series or television movie, and Dern herself has been nominated for best supporting actress, television series.

“I’m thrilled that the show is so supported and that we all get to be there together,” Dern says. “It’s a group of powerful female characters at a time more than ever, in a room more than ever, that I feel pays tribute to woman and their voices. It’s a continued honor everywhere you look.”

big-little-lies-2-2000 — Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic

Prior to the ceremony, Dern will act as one of the lead judges at this year’s Moët Moment Film Festival on Friday, alongside Star Wars: The Last Jedi co-star Billie Lourd.

“I’m so thrilled to do it for several reasons but partly to do something with Billie who I really grew to love,” Dern says.”She’s really so powerful and hilarious and sweet.”

The MMFF was founded to support a new generation of Hollywood storytellers and will award the first place winner with a $25,000 grant towards developing their career. The second and third place winners will have the opportunity to conceptualize, direct and shoot a short film that will be distributed on the Moet USA social channels.

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Dern, who says the year has been an “inspiring time” for her career, tells PEOPLE she is excited that Moet & Chandon care about the future of Hollywood.

“When I look back on the potentially most daring moments that became the most singularly important moments in my career as an actor,” Dern says, “I think about, for example, Citizen Ruth, where I had just done Jurassic Park and it was a very lucky time of being offered a lot of films, I was sent the script and they said, ‘Okay, well, this director Alexander Payne, he hasn’t made anything but he has a short film you can see out of film school,’ and that is the story of my career a number of times having grown up in independent films. I’m so grateful to Moët & Chandon to care so much about it and to know that makes the difference and the next generation of geniuses to just get that kind of chance and see what they invent.”