Watch David Lynch play John Ford in the new Steven Spielberg movie ‘The Fabelmans’
David Lynch is always mesmerising, be it in interviews, his weather reports or his magical cameos in iconic projects. Nobody who has seen Louis C.K.’s brilliant show Louie will ever forget Lynch’s surreal appearance as a bizarre TV producer who delivers the hilarious line: “Here’s the thing with that, champ. That’s short for champion.”
Now, Lynch has acquired another fantastic cameo under his belt, and it’s come courtesy of Steven Spielberg’s latest film, The Fabelmans. A semi-autobiographical film based on Spielberg’s own coming-of-age experience and his dreams of being a filmmaker, The Fabelmans has garnered widespread acclaim.
One pivotal moment that inspired Spielberg to become a director was his meeting with revered American auteur John Ford during his formative years. During a Q&A session after a screening of The Fabelmans in New York City, Spielberg opened up about the casting of David Lynch as John Ford in the new movie.
Initially, Spielberg already had an actor in mind for the role, but somebody else suggested Lynch and “a lightbulb went off”. Spielberg revealed (via Deadline): “[Lynch] said he was not an actor and had other projects, and John Ford was so great, what if he didn’t come up to those standards? He was just kind of shy about it.”
Although Lynch was hesitant to accept the role, Spielberg was smart enough to seek the help of a skilled negotiator – Laura Dern. Spielberg told Scorsese: “So I went to my go-to person, his best friend, Laura Dern. ‘You’ve got to talk David into doing this. You’ve got two weeks to talk him into this.'”
Eventually, Lynch agreed to do the part, but he had a special demand. Spielberg added: “He says, ‘I decided I am going to do this under one condition … I want to get the costume two weeks ahead of time to live in.’ I said, ‘You mean you are going to wear it? He said, ‘Yes, every day.’ The hat, the [eye] patch, everything. And he showed up in a pretty ratty costume.”
All the negotiations were definitely worth it because Lynch is simply fantastic as Ford, channelling the unmistakable aura of the late legendary filmmaker. Some viewers loved the cameo so much that they even claimed it was the best part of the entire movie.
Watch the clip below.
