Laura Dern Mourns Longtime Acting Coach Sandra Seacat After Death at 86: 'She Is My Whole Heart'

Steve Jennings/WireImage, Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic Laura Dern; Sandra Seacat

Laura Dern joins her Hollywood peers in mourning the death of acting coach Sandra Seacat.

Seacat died of natural causes in Santa Monica, Calif., on Tuesday at age 86, according to Variety. She was a mentor to many stars, including Jessica Lange, Andrew Garfield, Harvey Keitel, Marlo Thomas, Aaron Eckhart, Meg Ryan, Misha Baryshnikov, Isabella Rossellini, Melanie Griffith, Don Johnson, Mary Kay Place, Peter Falk, Shia LaBeouf, Martin Henderson, Mickey Rourke and Michelle Williams.

Seacat is survived by her husband, Thurn Hoffman, and daughter Greta Seacat, who is also an acting coach.

Dern, 55, said in a statement to Variety, "Sandra lived by seeing magic and possibility in everything. She met the discovery of character and story with equal protectiveness, irreverence, humility and grace. She taught us the practice of investigating healing through acting. But more than that, she invited us to know ourselves as artists and humans in ways I could've never begun to explore without her."

"She's been my teacher since age 17 and I had the honor of acting alongside her several times," added the Oscar winner. "She is my whole heart."

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Seacat attended Northwestern University before moving to New York to pursue a career in acting with only $69 to her name, according to Variety. Lee Strasberg invited her to The Actors Studio and hired her as a teacher.

From there, Seacat went on to star on Broadway in the Strasberg-directed Actors Studio production of The Three Sisters, according to The Hollywood Reporter. In 1975, Seacat pivoted to teaching as she spread her expertise across the U.S. and Europe, accumulating a group of devoted students who themselves went on to become masters in their fields.

Her last role was in FX's Under the Banner of Heaven, where she played the onscreen mom of her former student, Garfield.

Garfield, 39, said in a statement to Variety, "She is a true legend in the sense that she lived the most virtuous life one can imagine. A life devoted to profound service and healing through art. She was a revolutionary, a culture-changing teacher of acting and storytelling."

"She is a beacon for all of us of what a life of deep meaning and beauty can look like," he continued. "And she was irreverent and forever playing like a joyful unbridled child. I feel grateful beyond words to be able to call her my teacher, my acting partner in Under the Banner of Heaven, my mentor and my friend."

Another one of her students, Common, said, according to Deadline, "Sandra impacted and inspired my life in ways that only God could have orchestrated. Her Love for People, her love for life, her love for acting let me know as she would always tell me, 'You can heal people through your work as an actor, you can inspire people through your work as an actor.' And that truly made me see the higher purpose in the art that I do."