Kyle MacLachlan Pens Thoughtful Tribute to David Lynch After ‘Twin Peaks’ Creator’s Death at 78

After the death of legendary director David Lynch, Twin Peaks star Kyle MacLachlan is remembering the show’s creator. Lynch was behind the ‘90s ABC horror drama alongside Mark Frost, as well as its third-season revival in 2017 on Showtime. Lynch died on Jan. 16 at 78 after being diagnosed with emphysema. MacLachlan, best known as Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks as well as numerous other Lynch projects such as 1984’s Dune and  1986’s Blue Velvet, took to Instagram to write a heartfelt and lengthy tribute to his friend and the guy who helped make his career.

“Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big budget movie,” MacLachlan wrote alongside a series of photos of the two of them over the years. “He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision. What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to.”

“Our friendship blossomed on Blue Velvet and then Twin Peaks and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I’d ever met,” MacLachlan continued. “David was in tune with the universe and his own imagination on a level that seemed to be the best version of human. He was not interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that make us who we are. They are our breath. While the world has lost a remarkable artist, I’ve lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own.”

Lynch’s impact on movies and television left a lasting legacy with horror, film noir, whodunit, and surrealism, and is also behind hits such as Lost Highway, Mulholland Drive, and The Elephant Man. Throughout his career, he was nominated for four Oscars, eight Emmys, four Golden Globes, and many others for his work across the big and small screens. In 2019, he was presented with the Academy Honorary Award for his motion picture achievements.
 
“I can see him now, standing up to greet me in his backyard, with a warm smile and big hug and that Great Plains honk of a voice,” MacLachlan’s post continued. “We’d talk coffee, the joy of the unexpected, the beauty of the world, and laugh. His love for me and mine for him came out of the cosmic fate of two people who saw the best things about themselves in each other. I will miss him more than the limits of my language can tell and my heart can bear. My world is that much fuller because I knew him and that much emptier now that he’s gone. David, I remain forever changed, and forever your Kale. Thank you for everything.”