Naomi Watts, Lara Flynn Boyle and Girls Amick pay tribute to David Lynch.
With the death of David Lynch at the age of 78, the world has lost one of the most influential filmmakers of the last few decades. His unmistakable style, in which dream and nightmare seemed to merge, his surreal narratives and his ability to pack emotional depths into unfamiliar images have left their mark on the film and television landscape forever. Actors who worked closely with him have now paid tribute to the man they met as a visionary on the film set.
Lara Flynn Boyle, Naomi Watts and Girls Amick say goodbye to David Lynch
Lara Flynn Boyle, known for her role as Donna Hayward in “Twin Peaks,” found emotional words for her former mentor: “He was the Willy Wonka of the film industry,” she told the industry news site “Deadline.” “I feel like I got the golden ticket to work with him. The world will miss him greatly.”
Naomi Watts: “He made me known”
Naomi Watts, who gained worldwide fame for David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive,” expressed her gratitude on Instagram: “My heart is broken. My buddy Dave… The world won’t be the same without him. His creative mentoring was truly powerful.”
Watts, who played the dual role of Betty Elms and Diane Selwyn in the iconic film, recalled how David Lynch took her career to the next level: “He put me on the map. The world I’ve been trying to break into for over a decade, failing auditions left and right.” She described Lynch as “a curious man who shone with light, spoke words from another time and gave me a special sense of belief to myself that I had never experienced before.”
“Every moment together was filled with a presence I have rarely seen or known,” she added. “Probably because he seemed to live in a different world, I feel very lucky to have been a small part of it. And David invited everyone to take a look into that world through his exquisite narratives that took cinema to new heights and inspired generations of filmmakers around the world.”
Girl Amick: “He was my fixed star”
Girls Amick, who shone as Shelly Johnson in “Twin Peaks,” also expressed her deep emotion about the death of David Lynch: “It is difficult for me to find the right words to describe the loss of a masterful genius, but above all of a simple one “To express myself to wonderful people,” she said in a statement on Instagram.
“David Lynch was my mentor. How lucky was I? He was also my dear friend. Always there for a random touch or life-changing advice. He was my fixed star. He watched me grow up. He saw me become a mother. He cheered me on when I got into the director’s chair.”
She concluded with moving words: “I will keep in my heart the long conversations we had in his house. We laughed. We cried. We have always inspired each other. I’ll miss you, David. And we’ll see you on the other side.”
A legacy for eternity
David Lynch’s family commented on his death, believed to be related to emphysema, in a statement: “It is with deep regret that we, his family, announce the death of the man and artist David Lynch. There is a big hole in the world now that he is no longer with us. But as he would say, ‘Keep your eye on the donut and not the hole.’ It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies.”