It wasn’t just a speech — it was a celebration of love and strength. Laura Dern’s tribute to Sandler and Clooney’s wives stole the spotlight.QT

• Laura Dern received the Woman of Impact award at the InStyle Imagemaker Awards 2025.
• During her speech, she paid tribute to her Jay Kelly co-stars Adam Sandler and George Clooney, who presented her with the honor.
• Dern also paid homage to the directors and industry mentors who believed in her throughout her career.

Laura Dern has had a career chock-full of impactful performances, and she attributes her success to the people around her like the humble queen she is. During InStyle‘s 2025 Imagemaker Awards on Thursday, the Oscar-winning actress was honored with the Woman of Impact award with a little help from her A-list co-stars, who she calls family: Adam Sandler and George Clooney.

After a gushing—and hilarious—introduction from Sandler, Dern took to the podium to accept her award and thank all of the people around her.

“You’ve met my family, my literal brothers: My new adopted family, Adam and my family of—yes, it’s true—40 years, George Clooney,” she began her speech. She and Clooney first met on the set of their 1983 horror film, Grizzly II: Revenge, which was Clooney’s first movie role.

The three actors star together in the upcoming film Jay Kelly, which will hit select theaters on November 14, followed by its Netflix release on December 5.  “It’s amazing to be with you all because we get to have the privilege of being part of Noah Baumbach’s new movie, Jay Kelly. And in it, Adam and I are playing George’s manager and publicist,” she continued, looking over at Clooney and Adam who stood next to the stage. Clooney then mouthed “And lover,” to which Dern responded “Well, don’t get into the lover thing and give up the movie storyline! But it’s, yes, super sexy.”

She went on to praise Clooney and Sandler’s performance in the film, calling them “the best leading men any girl could ever know.” “I say that with such pride and gratitude to watch them and learn from them,” she added.

She also thanked them for marrying Amal Clooney and Jackie Sandler and bringing two amazing women into her life. “As cool as they may be, I get to hang out with the most incredible women, being Amal and Jackie, and we’ve become this amazing family.”

Elsewhere in her heartfelt speech, Dern thanked her makeup artist Gita Bass, who was also honored at last night’s event by her other client—and InStyle‘s cover star—Elizabeth Olsen. She also thanked a long list of acclaimed directors that she has worked with over the years, including late Big Little Lies director Jean-Marc Vallée, Greta Gerwig, Mike White, Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, and of course, Baumbach.

“I just want to talk about the power of empathy in storytelling and voice in rebellion and revolution,” she said, “And how I have had the privilege because of filmmakers who invited me into their story, who allowed me to play women who were finding voice, defining voice, not knowing they were entitled to voice, or using voice in deep and profound ways, all equally extraordinarily important to me.”

She continued, “I’m going to take this with me as a true award in what I demand of myself, from this night forward, an inspiration toward the impact that I would like to explore as an artist, producer, storyteller, activist, friend, I hope, and most importantly, as a mother, as I witness our next generation refuse to have these same cellular stories placed on them about women’s roles and men’s roles in the world.”