Bruce MacLeish Dern (Chicago, 1936) is an American actor with a long and prolific career. Known for his versatility and his penchant for complex characters, often unstable, nervous, or with ambiguous morality, Dern established himself in the 1970s as an iconic face of a certain restless America.

He has received two Oscar nominations: the first for Best Supporting Actor for Hal Ashby's *Coming Home* (1978), and the second for Best Actor for Alexander Payne's *Nebraska* (2013).

Among his other significant films are *They Shoot Horses, Don't They?* (1969), the sci-fi cult classic *Silent Running* (1972), and *Family Plot* (1976), Alfred Hitchcock's final film. In his more recent career, he has frequently collaborated with Quentin Tarantino, appearing in *Django Unchained* (2012), *The Hateful Eight* (2015), and *Once Upon a Time in Hollywood* (2019).

His acting style is characterized by a vibrant intensity and the ability to infuse complex humanity even into his most controversial roles.