Kyle MacLachlan Says ‘I Owe My Entire Career’ and Life to ‘Blue Velvet’ and ‘Twin Peaks’ Director David Lynch; Naomi Watts Says ‘My Heart Is Broken’
Kyle MacLachlan has paid tribute to David Lynch, the visionary filmmaker known for “Blue Velvet,” “Mulholland Drive” and “Twin Peaks,” who died at the age of 78.
“Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big budget movie. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision,” MacLachlan wrote Thursday in an Instagram post. “What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to.”
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He continued, “Our friendship blossomed on ‘Blue Velvet’ and then ‘Twin Peaks’ and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I’d ever met. David was in tune with the universe and his own imagination on a level that seemed to be the best version of human. He was not interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that make us who we are. They are our breath. While the world has lost a remarkable artist, I’ve lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own.”
At the end of his tribute to Lynch, MacLachlan wrote, “I will miss him more than the limits of my language can tell and my heart can bear. My world is that much fuller because I knew him and that much emptier now that he’s gone. David, I remain forever changed, and forever your Kale. Thank you for everything.”
MacLachlan isn’t the only one from Lynch’s inner circle of actors paying tribute to the late filmmaker. Naomi Watts, who memorably led “Mulholland Drive” and appeared in “Twin Peaks: The Return,” wrote an emotional tribute to Lynch on Instagram, writing “the world will not be the same without him” and thanking him for putting her on the map.
“His creative mentorship was truly powerful,” Watts wrote. “The world I’d been trying to break into for ten plus years, flunking auditions left and right. Finally, I sat in front of a curious man, beaming with light, speaking words from another era, making me laugh and feel at ease. How did he even ‘see me’ when I was so well hidden, and I’d even lost sight of myself?!”
“Every moment together felt charged with a presence I’ve rarely seen or known,” Watts continued about their time together. “Probably because, yes, he seemed to live in an altered world, one that I feel beyond lucky to have been a small part of. And David invited all to glimpse into that world through his exquisite storytelling, which elevated cinema and inspired generations of filmmakers across the globe.”
Watts concluded, “I just cannot believe that he’s gone. I’m in pieces but forever grateful for our friendship.”
Lynch’s family announced his death in a statement posted Thursday on his official Facebook page. “There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole,'” the statement reads. “It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”
Lynch revealed in 2024 that he had been diagnosed with emphysema after a lifetime of smoking, and would likely not be able to leave his house to direct any longer.
Dozens of Hollywood figures have posted tributes honoring Lynch, including fellow writer-director Steven Spielberg.
“I loved David’s films. ‘Blue Velvet,’ ‘Mulholland Drive’ and ‘Elephant Man’ defined him as a singular, visionary dreamer who directed films that felt handmade,” Spielberg said in a statement. “I got to know David when he played John Ford in ‘The Fabelmans.’ Here was one of my heroes—David Lynch playing one of my heroes. It was surreal and seemed like a scene out of one of David’s own movies. The world is going to miss such an original and unique voice. His films have already stood the test of time and they always will.”
Lynch infused his dark, surrealistic style into the cult classic series “Twin Peaks” and films such as “Blue Velvet” (1986), “Wild at Heart” (1990) and “Inland Empire” (2006). He was nominated for the best director Oscar three times — for “The Elephant Man” (1980), “Blue Velvet” and “Mulholland Drive” (2001) — and was also up for best adapted screenplay for “The Elephant Man.” In 2019, he received the Academy Honorary Award for his contributions to cinema.
Read MacLachlan’s full tribute to Lynch below:
Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big budget movie. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision.
What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to.
Our friendship blossomed on ‘Blue Velvet’ and then ‘Twin Peaks’ and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I’d ever met.
David was in tune with the universe and his own imagination on a level that seemed to be the best version of human. He was not interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that make us who we are. They are our breath.
While the world has lost a remarkable artist, I’ve lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own.
I can see him now, standing up to greet me in his backyard, with a warm smile and big hug and that Great Plains honk of a voice. We’d talk coffee, the joy of the unexpected, the beauty of the world, and laugh.
His love for me and mine for him came out of the cosmic fate of two people who saw the best things about themselves in each other.
I will miss him more than the limits of my language can tell and my heart can bear. My world is that much fuller because I knew him and that much emptier now that he’s gone.
David, I remain forever changed, and forever your Kale. Thank you for everything.
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