Laura Dern dropped out of college to film 'Blue Velvet' despite being told the decision was 'insane.' The career gamble paid off for the Oscar winner.

• Laura Dern dropped out of UCLA to film "Blue Velvet," her breakout role.
• She told the "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" podcast that her course leaders were unsupportive.
• Dern said the former head of UCLA's film department said it was "insane" to drop out for the film.

Laura Dern said a former head of her college film department once called her plan to leave college to film "Blue Velvet" "insane." But the gamble may have been one of her best career moves.

David Lynch's "Blue Velvet" is widely regarded as one of the greatest movies of all time, but when it premiered in 1986, critics disagreed on whether it was good.

Dern told Wednesday's episode of the "Where Everybody Knows Your Name" podcast that she had so much faith in "Blue Velvet" when she was cast in it that she dropped out of UCLA two days into her first semester.

Dern said she initially asked the heads of the film and psychology departments for a leave of absence and offered to send school work via mail or "double up classes." But both department heads refused because it wasn't a medical emergency.

"You can't take a leave for any reason at that time," Dern recalled being told

Dern also gave her "Blue Velvet" script to the film department head to read in the hope he would change his mind.

"He called me back in his office the next day and said, 'First of all, if you make this choice you are no longer welcome at UCLA. You'll be out. But secondly, having read this script, that you would give up your college education for this is insane,'" Dern said.

Dern added that it "pisses" her off that "Blue Velvet" became so successful that now it is one of the three films required to study for a master's degree at UCLA.

Skipping school to enter film industry can be risky since only a few actors go on to be major stars. But having two Oscar-nominated actors as parents, Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, may have helped her to see the gamble can be worth it.

Dern's breakout role in "Blue Velvet" kickstarted a wide-ranging acting career that included blockbusters, award-winning films, and TV shows.

After "Blue Velvet," Dern partnered with Lynch on multiple movies before rising to greater prominence in 1993's "Jurassic Park." Dern has also been nominated for three Oscars, winning her first in 2020.