Keeping up with Kyle MacLachlan
The 64-year-old Twin Peaks actor talks putting on his investigative journalist cap, and starring in Prime Video’s upcoming adaption of the video game franchise Fallout.
Kyle MacLachlan is up to his old tricks.
The 64-year-old star, best known as the cherry pie-chomping, black coffee-guzzling Detective Dale Cooper in David Lynch’s beloved 90s series Twin Peaks, has once again found himself sniffing out a mystery in a middle-of-nowhere American town with the launch of his years-in-the-making podcast, Varnamtown.
But hold your groans; this isn’t your typical celebrity podcast schlock. There’s no droning on about insane bone broth diets, or Rob Lowe talking about how fabulous it is to be Rob Lowe. What MacLachlan has pulled off is a genuinely gripping investigation into the stranger-than-fiction story of Varnamtown, a small fishing village in Brunswick County, North Carolina, which, in the 1980s, became the second busiest port of entry for illegal drugs on the Eastern Seaboard.
On the tip-off of a friend-of-a-friend Lynn Betz, an organic soap tycoon who had retired in Varnhamtown, MacLachlan, learned that the town — which then had a population of 300 — was paid off in cash and unlimited cocaine by the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar to use as a shipping and transport hub for his operations. “I thought, this is a story worth exploring and fleshing out,” MacLachlan tells The Australian.
So he reached out to the New York Times bestselling journalist Joshua Davies, put together a small crew, and went up to North Carolina. “There we sat with many, many people, who were all really forthcoming,” MacLachlan says, in his genial Pacific Northwest accent.
Over the eight-episode series, they spike with everyone from local residents, law enforcement, former dealers — one who, hilariously, kept accidentally revealing his real identity — and “a gentleman” named “Crazy Dale” Varnam who, back in the eighties, rose to the top of the drug trade and lived to tell the tale. “After hearing his story firsthand I thought, how is this guy still alive, having lived this life?”
“We came away with this rich telling of this story, that was so real because it had all these voices from rural North Carolina… you can imagine what that sounds like,” says MacLachlan. “We didn’t speak to Pablo Escobar, sadly, he wasn’t around.”
When The Australian catches up for a 15 minute chat with MacLachlan, from his home in Los Angeles, it’s to talk about his role in the new Prime Video series Fallout, a by-the-fans, for-the-fans adaptation of the enormously popular video game franchise from Westworld showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy. While he admits the intricacies of the game went a little over his head, he was happy to go along for the ride.
Hey Kyle! How are you doing?
Good, thanks. It’s nice to see you. Where are you? Are you in Sydney?
I’m in Sydney, yes.
One of my favorite cities!
Oh yeah? What do you like about it?
The Harbour, of course, is spectacular. But I love the zoo. I love taking the ferry over to see the zoo. And the people! I mean, there are no people friendlier than Australians.
So we’re here to talk about Fallout. How much did you know about the franchise before signing up for it?
I knew the games, but I hadn’t played them. I took a stab, went in, and immediately recognised that this was well beyond my capabilities, and the learning curve was going to be quite extreme. So I backed away and said, “I’m going to rely on the writers and the script to help guide me through this.”
Fortunately, they were very helpful and just wanted me to focus on the character of Hank and his relationship with his daughter, Lucy [Ella Purnell].
These video game adaptations come with a built-in-fanbase who, on one hand, are passionate and engage meaningfully, but also, they are not afraid to be critical. Is that something that appealed to you?
I appreciate the game, but more than that, I appreciate the effort of the production design. It really honours the look, feel, and tone of the Fallout. I think respect permeates the whole process — our director, Jonathan [Nolan] didn’t want to give the game second billing. I think it’s remarkable what they’ve been able to create. On top of that, inside that world, we explore this very human story based on the idea of survival. Survival and family, are two major themes and I think these are the kind of things that are going to really engage the audience.
You have cast your net so wide as an actor and have played pretty much all there is to play. At this point in your career, what appeals to you? What are you seeking out?
I’m just looking for interesting stories. I like new things. I like a complex character who has more going on than first meets the eye. Fallout is something very different, very new.
In what way?
The technology of this is so different—working on a volume stage and seeing the background projected; using the computer screen as part of the environment; and seeing how that interacts with the camera—I had a lot of curiosity about that. I like a complex character who has more going on than first meets the eye. I’m just really lucky that I continue to do this after so many years and still enjoy it and still have a great time.
Your career is interesting because you’ve never a prolonged fallow period, you have always been in the culture in some way. How have you managed that?
Well, thank you. I might disagree [laughs]. I have been very fortunate to be part of shows like Sex and the City, Desperate Housewives, and Twin Peaks, and the fanbase that exists for those shows is very rabid, intense, and committed. The fact that we now have social media, which wasn’t around when I started, just supports that. I think that these shows are able to stay current in a strange way.
This year marks 40 years since the release of Dune, the first film you ever starred in, how does that make you feel?
It doesn’t feel like 40 years. I feel immense gratitude to be able to do something consistently and have a career; that is something I still love. I also feel a lot of excitement about what’s to come; there are so many things that I want to do, so many people I want to work with, and so many experiences I want to have. I want to do more with Josh [Davis, co-host of Varnhamtown], that was a really fun adventure. That’s true not only in my work as an actor, but I have a 15-year-old son who I love dearly; he’s just beginning his journey in 10th grade, and I’m excited to see how that unfolds, and to be there and to be part of that with him as a parent and hopefully as a mentor and just a pal—you get to wear a lot of different hats in the parenting experience.
Fallout premieres on Prime Video April 11.