Everyone Wore Chanel and Maggie Rogers Performed at the MoMA Film Benefit

Laura Dern is no stranger to accolades; her dual performances in two of the year’s most anticipated films (Marriage Story and Little Women) have earned her intense Oscar buzz. But even an actor as convincing as Dern could barely contain her glee Tuesday night at the Museum of Modern Art’s twelfth annual film benefit, at which she was honored.

“I consider MoMA an artistic home, and I know MoMA doesn’t know that!” Dern told Vogue, turning heads in a white tweed dress with gold embroidery that would make Renata Klein proud. “The fact that they would reciprocate even a welcome is just gorgeous to me!”

It’s fair to say that Dern got less of a “welcome” and more of a full-blown parade at the gala, presented by Chanel, who announced they would be supporting MoMA’s film exhibitions in 2020. An A-list crowd braved below-freezing temperatures to come out and honor their beloved friend, including past collaborators like Naomi Watts, Gwendoline Christie, and Noah Baumbach. Watts, who co-chaired the event, first met Dern filming the 2004 drama We Don’t Live Here Anymore and considers the actor one of her “most special friends.”

“I was impressed with how she was juggling her absolute dedication to both her family and work,” Watts said of her first impression of Dern, joking that they now share everything from a manager to a gynecologist. “There are big gaps in our friendship because I live in New York, and she lives in L.A., but we always take off where we left off, and we dive in deep.”

After cocktails, the crowd assembled in the MoMA’s seated theater, where friends and colleagues paid glowing tribute to Dern, including her Marriage Story co-star Adam Driver: “She doesn’t hide herself from her roles, which is what makes her characters alive on-screen.” Kristen Stewart, Nicole Kidman, and director David Lynch provided virtual, video tributes. In Lynch’s—which was unsurprisingly bizarre—he pulled a cartoon heart out of his chest and offered it to his Blue Velvet muse, earning confused laughs and rapturous applause.

Dern was visibly moved by the tribute, declaring, “You’re not supposed to cry at a MoMA benefit; let me try to be chic!” Her own touching speech dedicated to her actor parents, Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern, showcased just how deep her relationship with cinema is: “I was conceived on a Roger Corman movie called The Wild Angels. At eight days old, I went on location for the first time, and a chest of drawers in the Mojave Desert became my crib, so the sound of filmmaking has been my own personal score.”

Afterward, guests were ushered upstairs to a seated dinner where Maggie Rogers performed a four-song set accompanied by Jon Batiste. Dern could barely move an inch without being accosted by admirers, including longtime friend Brooke Shields, whom Dern revealed she almost got matching tattoos with when she was 17 (“It was a very hippy choice!”) It was a full-circle moment for Dern, who earned her first acting credit at five years old but has only in recent years been recognized for her contributions to the industry she’s dedicated her life to.

“What’s shifting isn’t as much about me and the journey of my career, it’s about culture. Women in positions of power have opened up a new discovery of characters we never played before because there weren’t any,” Dern told Vogue. “I’ve played indignant drug addicts and complicated messes, and suddenly people are like Wow you played two women in power this year, why is that? Because there are some to write about! It’s an exciting time.”