Star recalls ‘trippy’ David Lynch experience

As Hollywood reacts to the death of director David Lynch, two actors who worked with him reveal how he changed their lives.

David Lynch is being remembered as one of Hollywood’s most influential directors. Picture: AFP

As Hollywood mourns the death of visionary director David Lynch, much of the attention has been on his eclectic filmography, a 10-project collection of out-there classics that includes 1986’s Blue Velvet, 1990s Palme d’Or winner Wild At Heart and 2001’s Mulholland Drive, which is considered by many critics to be one of the greatest films ever made.

But it is worth noting that he also transformed the medium of television with his landmark series Twin Peaks in 1990, and catapulted a clutch of young female actors to instant fame at the same time.

Sheryl Lee played doomed homecoming queen Laura Palmer in the short-lived but hugely influential series – which ran for two seasons – as well as the 1992 film prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

US director David Lynch, who gained a cult following for his unsettling portraits of American life, has died, his family announced today. He was 78 years old. Picture: AFP

Sheryl Lee as homecoming queen Laura Palmer in David Lynch’s hit TV series, Twin Peaks. Picture: ABC via Getty Images

An acclaimed reboot aired in 2017; a year later, when Lee spoke with Stellar, she explained that she never grew tired of talking about her most famous screen role.

“In all honesty,” she revealed, “it doesn’t really come up that often in my life. But when it does, I love David and the work so much that I don’t mind.

“I always knew how special it was, but 30 years [later] we had so much of the same crew and I appreciated it even more. As we age, things just deepen.”

Laura Palmer’s dark origin story, which belied the instantly iconic and deeply enigmatic high school yearbook photo of the character with a beaming smile, was not always easy for Lee to play onscreen, particularly in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, which marked one of her first times working on a film set.

“So I had nothing to compare it to, there was no way for me to know what shoots or directors were normally like,” she said, before pointing out that Lynch and the crew were “an incredible, supportive, creative, collaborative group of people”.

“That was really my school. Laura’s life was so brutal – and I know it sometimes reflected back pain or hit a nerve in viewers. The thing that is so devastating to me is how much it happens in real life. The statistics enrage me.”

Picture: AFP

‘David wrote her for me!’ Sherilyn Fenn portrayed Audrey Horne on Twin Peaks – which is one of David Lynch’s most celebrated Hollywood works. Picture: Getty Images

Actor Sherilyn Fenn, whose seductive young schoolgirl Audrey Horne became a Gen X fashion icon thanks to her signature retro bob, arched eyebrows, beauty mark, blood-red lips, form-fitting sweaters, knee-length tartan skirts and saddle shoes, told Stellar in 2017: “Audrey wasn’t in the script. David wrote her for me. I was there like all of the other girls in my age range, auditioning to play either Shelly or Donna [who were eventually played by Mädchen Amick and Lara Flynn Boyle, respectively].

“I was considered [to be] a very inconsequential character, and a lot of what I wore was my own clothes. Look at the sweaters the other girls were wearing – they were really big.
“Then look at mine. They’re little and tight. Those were my sweaters. I still am not sure why or what happened, but it’s a gift.”

Like Lee, she said the experience was only an enriching one.

“The fans have gotten me through,” Fenn told Stellar.

“I get to do these shows, meet them, pay my bills and be connected. When you’re only around people who direct or act or produce, they’re always judging you. They want something from you. You get around people who like your work and it’s a whole different vibe. They’re kind, they’re sweet, they share ideas.

“You’re disposable in a business like this, especially as a woman getting older. And then you learn some little character you played touched people’s hearts, and they tell you about it, and it touches you. Sometimes people come up and start crying, then I’m crying, and I don’t even know what’s going on. It’s a trippy experience.”

Originally published as Star recalls ‘trippy’ David Lynch experience