Laura Dern plays Katherine Harris, Florida's Secretary of State (elected in 1998) during the presidential election in 2000.
Harris, from one of Florida's most prominent families, graduated from Bartow High School in 1975, spent a year in Spain's University of Madrid and received her BA in history from Agnes Scott College in Decatur Georgia in 1979. She entered politics in 1994 by winning a seat in the Florida Senate and earned her Masters in Public Administration from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government (with a concentration in International Trade) in 1997. In 1999, she was named co-chair of George W. Bush's Florida campaign.
Just prior to the election, she hired Choicepoint, a private firm, to identify and remove thousands of names from the state voters list.
Laura Dern most recently starred in the critically acclaimed film "Inland Empire," her third film with director David Lynch, which garnered her a nod from the New York Film Critics Association for Best Actress. Together, Dern and Lynch received the Special Distinction Award at the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards for their collaborative work on the movie, as well as on "Blue Velvet" and "Wild at Heart." Following in the footsteps of her parents, actors Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern, she began her acting career at age six in "White Lightning." Since then, Dern has starred in such films as "Mask," "Smooth Talk," "Citizen Ruth," "Jurassic Park," "Jurassic Park III," "October Sky," "I Am Sam," "Dr. T and the Women," "Novocaine," "We Don??t Live Here Anymore" and "Happy Endings." She earned Oscar® and Golden Globe nominations for 1991's "Rambling Rose." On TV, Dern garnered a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy® nomination for HBO's "Afterburn," and received another Golden Globe nomination for "The Baby Dance." Dern's memorable TV performances also include "Damaged Care" and "Within These Walls." Among her recent film credits are Mike White's "Year of the Dog," "Lonely Hearts" and "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio." Dern has a supporting role opposite Russell Crowe in the upcoming feature film "Tenderness."
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