The actors David Lynch would only call by their character’s names: “That’s who they are”
It’s not out of the ordinary for an actor to remain so deeply immersed in a role that they request their co-stars and crew members to refer to them only by their character’s name. It’s definitely more unusual for a director to refuse to address two stars he wasn’t even working with by anything other than their fictional monikers, but David Lynch was a pretty unusual guy.
The iconic auteur had an idiosyncratic approach to life and art, which was perfectly encapsulated by a filmography that couldn’t have been made by anyone else. The term ‘Lynchian’ may have entered the cultural lexicon, but no amount of pretenders to the throne could hope to emulate the offbeat magic made by its originator.
On the other hand, his favourites were surprisingly conventional for someone so closely associated with the eccentric and esoteric side of film and television. Lynch’s entire professional life was inspired by his undying love for The Wizard of Oz, and Marilyn Monroe was another constant source of obsession, admiration, and infatuation.
He created one of the most bizarre TV shows ever with Twin Peaks, but he wouldn’t dare miss an episode of a character-driven drama set in the 1960s advertising industry. It’s no secret that Lynch was an avid viewer of Mad Men, but he took his fandom to new heights when he met Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss by referring to them only as Don and Peggy.
His reasons were fairly simple, too. Lynch was so invested in the ongoing adventures of the Sterling Cooper gang that he simply wouldn’t acknowledge Hamm and Moss as separate entities. “That’s who they are to me,” he said. “I called Peggy, ‘Peggy.'”
During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, Moss confirmed that not only did Lynch refuse to refer to her and her co-star as anything other than Don and Peggy, but she didn’t mind in the slightest. “From the very beginning of the drinks, he called us by our character names,” she confirmed. “It kept going, and we went with it.”
Even when they parted ways, Lynch remained absorbed in their Mad Men personas. “Then he emailed me afterwards,” Moss continued. “And he wrote, ‘Dear Peggy’, and finished it with, ‘Give my love to Don.'” There’s nothing wrong with a little disassociation every now and again, with the Academy Award-nominated filmmaker so wrapped up in the show that he didn’t see the point in delineating between the two actors and the parts they played to such great effect over seven seasons.
For all anyone knows, someone out there might have repeatedly run into Lynch and would only call him Gus after the recurring bartender he voiced in Family Guy and its spinoff, The Cleveland Show.
