The David Lynch line Timothy Olyphant called “poetry”
Timothy Olyphant has had an interesting career as an actor, and recently, he’s morphed into an entirely different type of performer. Olyphant is certainly a great artist, but most of the films he’s starred in over the years sit in B-movie territory. If he were working in Hollywood during the 1970s, his casting as an actor might be something akin to Rick Dalton’s, the movie star character Leonardo DiCaprio played in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. It’s perhaps a small reason why Quentin Tarantino cast Olyphant in a small role in that very film.
Having starred in two Die Hard movies, the most recent, Live Free or Die Hard, saw the actor face off against Bruce Willis, as well as featuring in Hitman as the video game-inspired assassin, Agent 47. In addition to roles in The Girl Next Door, Scream II, and The Crazies, Olyphant has recently stepped into the world of TV and has received acclaim for his performances as Sheriff Seth Bullock on HBO’s Deadwood.
Reflecting on his career and those that have influenced him most, Olyphant took the time to discuss his favourite movies with Rotten Tomatoes and cited David Lynch as one of his favourite directors. Revealing a soft spot for Blue Velvet, he said: “(Lynch) He’s one of the people out there that I just can’t get enough of. I just love everything. I love the way he does it. I love that at first, you think it’s weird. [But] it’s actually not weird at all. It makes total f—g sense to me.”
The actor certainly isn’t alone in his love affair with Lynch. The acclaimed director’s weird and wonderful, hypnotic vision of the uncanny has made him one of the very best filmmakers in modern cinema. And although Lynch’s films are soaked in the dark and twisted, they are also extremely funny, and it’s this perfect line he toes that never allows his work to fall into the realm of pretentious.
Olyphant also acknowledges the comic undertones of Lynch’s movies: “And you know what I love about it? It seems like it should be pretentious, but there’s nothing pretentious about it. That story creeps you out, it’s fascinating, it’s funny.” The actor also cites a famous line from Lynch’s psychologically twisted and thrilling fable, Blue Velvet, “And [it’s got] dialogue like, ‘Heineken? F— that s—. Pabst Blue Ribbon!’ That’s poetry.”
The line Olyphant is quoting is said by Dennis Hopper’s character, a foul-mouthed, gas-and-air canister-toking, sadistic killer and drug dealer, Frank Booth. Hopper gives an over-the-top, truly terrifying, and excellent performance as Booth and has some brilliant passages of dialogue within Lynch’s script.
Like Tarantino, Lynch has the ability to take actors that play a certain type of role and can mould them into something totally different and to great effect. An actor like Olyphant taking on a Lynchian character would not seem out of the ordinary, and it would be great to see. Olyphant’s affection for Lynch is shared by many; he’s a phenomenal artist. However, Olyphant’s suggestion that the films “make total f— sense” is certainly up for debate. I have no idea what’s really happening when watching a Lynch movie, but I wouldn’t want it any other way.
Never Miss A Take
The Far Out Quentin Tarantino Newsletter
All the latest Quentin Tarantino content from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.