How David Lynch made Harry Dean Stanton cry for ‘The Straight Story’
Surrealist master David Lynch is known for his frequent collaborations with certain actors, such as Kyle MacLachlan, Laura Dern, Jack Nance, Naomi Watts and Harry Dean Stanton. It appears that when Lynch finds a connection with an actor, he’s reluctant to let them go, using them to bring his endlessly creative ideas to life.
Lynch cast Stanton in four features, several short films, and his television epic Twin Peaks: The Return. The pair seemed to be on the same wavelength, with Stanton starring in some of the director’s most outrightly Lynchian productions, such as Inland Empire.
The actor started out in the 1950s, although his first leading role didn’t arrive until 1984’s Paris, Texas, directed by Wim Wenders. Known for playing recognisable side characters in movies such as Cool Hand Luke, Alien and Repo Man, Stanton’s first collaboration with Lynch came in 1988 when he featured in the short film The Cowboy and the Frenchman, which aired on French television. Then, the duo reunited for Wild At Heart, Lynch’s take on the road movie.
They also worked together in 1999 for one of the director’s most underrated yet accessible movies, The Straight Story, which was bizarrely released via Walt Disney Pictures. The movie is one of Lynch’s most tender works, and Stanton was a big fan. Talking to Uncut, the actor explained, “I really liked The Straight Story. It was very touchingly written, the scene I had.”
However, Lynch had one request for Stanton. “David called me up and said, ‘I want you to do the last scene in the movie, and I want you to cry,’” he revealed. The actor then explained just how Lynch helped him to get emotionally prepared for the scene.
“He had me read a letter from Chief Seattle to the President in the 1800s,” Stanton revealed. “Chief Seattle was the first Indian to be put on a reservation. He wrote this great letter to the President: ‘How could you buy or sell the sky…’ It’s beautiful. Anyway, it makes me cry. So I read that. And cried”.
The technique clearly worked well, and Lynch and Stanton were both happy with the finished result. The pair reunited for Inland Empire and The Return before Stanton passed away aged 91 in 2017. Upon his death, Lynch wrote online, “The great Harry Dean Stanton has left us. There went a great one. There’s nobody like Harry Dean. Everyone loved him. And with good reason. He was a great actor (actually beyond great) – and a great human being – so great to be around him!!!”
