The 1984 movie Kyle MacLachlan wasn’t sure he could master: “I don’t know if I can do this”
When you watch Kyle MacLachlan making silly videos on the internet, which have established him as an unexpectedly popular figure with Gen Z, it’s hard to imagine that he was ever anxious to take to the silver screen. But everyone starts somewhere, and admittedly, MacLachlan was thrown into the deep end for his first role.
He’d studied acting and subsequently spent some time working in the theatre, with his first glimpse of Hollywood coming when he was given $10 to star as an extra in the horror film The Changeling, which happened to be shot at his university, but it wouldn’t be another four years until MacLachlan returned to screens, with the actor unexpectedly bagging a huge leading part as his first proper role.
Of course, I’m talking about Dune, which catapulted MacLachlan into the spotlight, but unfortunately, it wasn’t the hit that he perhaps hoped it would be, and to this day, it remains David Lynch’s most poorly-rated film – some people think it’s misunderstood, but even many diehard Lynch fans will tell you that Denis Villeneuve’s version is better.
Dune is just too dense a story to fit into one movie, and critics were unimpressed by Lynch’s attempt to bring Frank Herbert’s story to the big screen, it was bizarrely camp with some bad special effects to boot, while the narrative just felt rushed, but to be fair to Lynch, issues regarding how much creative control he had certainly affected the film, and you can tell that this project wasn’t as close to him as his previous efforts, Eraserhead and The Elephant Man.
Despite the negative reaction to the film, it was still a big moment for MacLachlan – this was the first time he’d ever been given a proper role in a movie, and he was initially unsure that he’d even be able to master the part, with the actor revealing, “I’d seen Eraserhead and didn’t know what to make of it… [Lynch] came in and we talked about growing up in the Northwest and red wine, and then he said, ‘Here’s the script… Learn these scenes, then come back and we’ll film them.”
MacLachlan had been picked out by casting agent Elisabeth Leustig, who’d seen him in a stage play at the University of Washington, and before he knew it, he was lunching with Lynch, and then, just like that, he’d got the job.
But MacLachlan wasn’t used to being on a film set, and doubts soon crept up on him – luckily, Lynch reassured him that everything would be fine: “I was in this huge space with tons of people around, and the camera looked like the biggest thing I’d ever seen in my life, but once David arrived, I felt connected and grounded.”
Adding, “We shot a few scenes, including one where I had to speak right into the camera, and I said, ‘David, I don’t know if I can do this,’ and he said, ‘You’re gonna be great!’… He was very encouraging.”
From that moment, they solidified a friendship that would see MacLachlan appear in some considerably more beloved projects helmed by Lynch, starting with Blue Velvet. Then came Twin Peaks, Lynch’s most popular creation, and MacLachlan got to play the lead once again – only this time, success came thick and fast.
