Matthew Lillard on the “stressful” work with David Lynch on ‘Twin Peaks’
The actor Matthew Lillard might not be the most recognisable name in film and television. While he’s made appearances in the likes of Scream, Hackers, Without a Paddle, and Scooby-Doo, he is not necessarily the first person you think of when considering movie stars. Still, Lillard had made enough of an impression on the entertainment industry to land a part in the return of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks, which aired in 2017.
Lynch’s original 1990s mystery serial drama is one of the best-loved works of television, and the 2017 return was highly anticipated and well-received by critics and devoted audiences alike.
Lillard said that he found the opportunity “interesting”, telling The A.V. Club: “Twin Peaks was a really interesting moment in my career. It was such a big cultural event before it came out – I mean, as it was launching. Sort of all eyes were on it. I had a scene in that show, the hardest scene I’ve ever had to do as an actor.”
David Lynch’s works are typically difficult to understand, let alone to produce. Lillard admitted that he found the experience somewhat stressful, most notably because he had not watched the original series and because Lynch’s style of directing was not something he was used to.
Explaining his difficulty, Lillard said: “There’s a scene where I break down sobbing, and [Lynch] is looking for a result. But the monologue is nonsense to me because I don’t see any other piece of the script; I don’t know what the characters are talking about. I didn’t watch the original, and I only have these like excerpts.”
Lillard noticed that he’d been a “complete jerk” to his family while working on Twin Peaks, and it came down to the fact that he knew so many people would watch it. He said: “I had this really clear sense that when I completed it, everyone would watch it. It felt like that show was going to be such a cultural moment that people all over the world were going to see it.”
The actor continued: “I knew that the stress of achieving what I want to achieve in my own craft was super high, and it was really hard and really scary.” Evidently, the opportunity to work with one of the most acclaimed directors of all time was too good to pass up, but the reality of performing in a David Lynch work very nearly took it out of Matthew Lillard.
