TERRY GROSS, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "TWIN PEAKS")
KYLE MACLACHLAN: (As Dale Cooper) Diane, 11:30 a.m., February 24. Entering the town of "Twin Peaks." It's 5 miles south of the Canadian border, 12 miles west of the state line. I've never seen so many trees in my life. As W.C. Fields would say, I'd rather be here than Philadelphia. Fifty-four degrees on a slightly overcast day. Weather man said rain. If you could get paid that kind of money for being wrong 60% of the time, it'd beat working. Milage is 79,345. Gauge is on reserve.
GROSS: You may recognize that as my guest, Kyle MacLachlan, in the first episode of the David Lynch TV series "Twin Peaks" as FBI special agent Dale Cooper recording a message as he drives. At the time, "Twin Peaks" was the strangest, most dreamlike series ever on TV. Like a lot of dreams, the meaning of the imagery and story were often elliptical, hard to interpret. To everyone's surprise, "Twin Peaks" became a big hit. MacLachlan says he wouldn't have become the person he is without David Lynch.
Just months after acting school, MacLachlan seemed destined for a meteoric rise. Lynch was making an adaptation of Frank Herbert's 1965 science fiction novel, "Dune." And he cast the young MacLachlan as the lead. Along with the part came a multipicture deal with its producer, Dino De Laurentiis. After the movie flopped, the deal was canceled. MacLachlan had to rewrite his plans and wasn't sure how. His next break came when Lynch cast him in "Blue Velvet," which was a turning point in American film for its nightmarish imagery and threatening performances. Lynch and MacLachlan teamed up again for the TV series "Twin Peaks" and the return of "Twin Peaks," and for the "Twin Peaks" movie, "Fire Walk With Me."
While MacLachlan was writing his new memoir, Lynch died. The memoir is called "Fictional Selves." The title is a reference to who people think he is based on his roles and who he really is, and how confusing that can be for him. You may also know Kyle MacLachlan from his roles including "Showgirls," "Sex And The City," "Desperate Housewives," "Portlandia," "Overcompensating" and "Fallout." Kyle MacLachlan, welcome to FRESH AIR. And congratulations on your memoir.
MACLACHLAN: I'm very grateful to be here. And thank you for having me on the show.
GROSS: So in the scene we just heard, David Lynch was in the back seat of the car directing you as you read the message you were recording. Do you remember what kind of direction he was giving you from the back seat?
MACLACHLAN: (Laughter) Well, I don't recall the specifics of it. But I do recall that the distance that we had to travel, because we were on a tow rig, basically - so my vehicle was being towed by a vehicle in front of me.
GROSS: Oh, so that you didn't have to really drive?
MACLACHLAN: I didn't have to really drive, which is very disconcerting, to be honest, because when you're behind the wheel of a car, you feel like you should be driving. And in fact, you're just putting your hands on the wheel. You're not really driving. It's a little different. It's a little distracting. After I got over that and just started in with the dialogue, the other challenge was that we only had a short distance to make this run.
And so I had to basically just, you know, blister through the dialogue, which I think was ultimately helpful in establishing the character. I've always said that that introduction is certainly the best introduction to a film or television program I've ever had. And I think it ranks pretty high as an introduction for any character because you get so much of who he is about in a short period of time. And the eccentricities and the strangeness of who this man is, it just deepens the mystery.
GROSS: Is it reassuring to have your director in the back seat or does it make you more self-conscious?
MACLACHLAN: It's both. First of all, I - you know, and we'll get into David and our relationship. But having him near always made me feel better. So that wasn't even part of it because there was never judge - I never felt there was judgment coming from David. It was always just joy and pleasure.
You know, in a strange way, I think the pressure was really sort of self-delivered, you know, by me. And it's like, I want to do a great job here. And I want to - you know, I want to get everything the way I imagine it to be. And David's help and input was always to expand what I'd started, and just more to think about - more colors, more ideas, more suggestions about how to really deepen and enrich the character, the scene, the moment, whatever it might call for.
GROSS: You write that you didn't use your real speaking voice for the role. What did you change?
MACLACHLAN: Well, it was heavily influenced by David because I recognized that Cooper shared so many of David's quirks, I guess, personality, attitudes. So I tried to...
GROSS: Straight-laced but weird.
(LAUGHTER)
MACLACHLAN: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, just a little bit off, right? And I feel like the voice, I just sort of - I don't know. Oftentimes, things come and I do them, and I'm like, I'm not exactly sure why I'm doing it this way, but I'm just going to trust it. But it was kind of a more of a, you know, (impersonating Dale Cooper) now, listen, sheriff.
You know? And this kind of - and it had a little bit of almost a nasal quality to it. And David's speaking voice, you know, not all the time, but he can be, you know, he'd be, (Impersonating David Lynch) Kyle, hey, you know? You know - sorry. I'm thinking I'm (laughter) blowing out the speakers here. But it had a certain pitch. And I just found myself kind of burrowing into that.
GROSS: David Lynch, who was your mentor, your director and your good, lifelong friend, died while you were writing the memoir. How did his death change what you wanted to say, change the mood of the rest of the book, change your mood while you were writing it?
MACLACHLAN: Well, yeah, at first, it was a significant loss. And obviously, when someone passes so suddenly like that, there's a shock, you know? And you just disbelief. And the beautiful thing about a memoir is that you then can go back and say, and from that, I grew to this, or I learned this or this changed in me. Obviously, I didn't know how he would feel about some of the stories that I tell, some of the difficult times that we went through as friends and as creatives. He was such a private person, you know, that to share those intimacies and, you know, those moments, I felt like he would need to be OK with that, you know?
GROSS: You didn't want to feel like you were violating him?
MACLACHLAN: I didn't, you know? And I just said, I hope that there's an understanding there. I don't know. You never know.
GROSS: Is there an example of one of those dark times that you refer to in your relationship with Lynch?
MACLACHLAN: Yeah. We, during the course of the making of "Twin Peaks," the original "Twin Peaks," there, which was actually really a pretty short window, a short window of time between the first filming and then the second season - we only had two seasons. But during that time, there was a struggle. I felt I was definitely trying to - you know, it wasn't the sinking ship, necessarily. But I felt like I was trying to, like, keep something afloat that I didn't know how to keep afloat. I didn't have the skill set. I didn't have the knowledge.
GROSS: Well, David Lynch had left the series...
MACLACHLAN: He was gone. Yeah, exactly.
GROSS: ...During the second season.
MACLACHLAN: Yeah.
GROSS: And he was the sensibility behind the show. So with him gone, there were new writers, and you felt as - like, the person whose point of view we most often see, and as someone who is very close to Lynch, that you should be an anchor, and you should help keep the ship afloat.
MACLACHLAN: I did feel that responsibility, and it was difficult. And at the same time, I'm like, I can't blame anyone, honestly, knowing David as I did and his personality and his creative self. Running a show is not what David wants to do. Every day is going to be a different place, you know? So it was foolish of me to expect that he would remain in place and basically be there every day and you do the writing and answer the questions and all the things that a good showrunner has to do. So that wasn't the answer. But there - so there was no answer. There was no, what can we do to bring back the that essence you talk about, that thing, you know, that made "Twin Peaks" so special, which is really David and Mark Frost, the co-creator, because it was sort of the combination of the two of them.
But in terms of the direction and the unusual nature of "Twin Peaks," the mood, the vibe. That's pretty much David. And it came back occasionally when he was directing 'cause he came back to direct a couple of episodes in that second season. And you could feel the cast, myself included, just open. You know, it was like, suddenly, you know, there was moisture in the air, and everybody was like, oh, my gosh, everything - we can breathe. The creative energy had returned, you know? And then it was taken away. Again, you know, and you're like, oh. you can't help but yearn for that...
GROSS: Yeah.
MACLACHLAN: ...When it's not there.
GROSS: Lynch had a way of getting to the dark underside of things, the things that aren't necessarily visible, the people who you don't necessarily know who are kind of crazy.
MACLACHLAN: Yeah.
GROSS: And the danger that you may be attracted to in some way, but if you're in the middle of it, it's really dangerous.
MACLACHLAN: Yeah.
GROSS: That...
MACLACHLAN: Yeah.
GROSS: ...Is, like, not fun. So I'm wondering, acting in so much of David Lynch's work and being absorbed in his sensibility, did it bring out a dark side of you, of your personality, of your inner thoughts, that you hadn't been in touch with so much before?
MACLACHLAN: You know, I think there was only one instance in the newest season, the "Twin Peaks" return. I played three different characters, actually a few others, but three main characters during the filming of that. And one of those characters was, as you described, very dark psychopath. And that was really the only time I felt during that journey that I felt like, OK, I am now going to enter into a dark world. And that was a deliberate putting on of the character in the morning when I got to set, and that would happen as I was getting my makeup done, and then I would put on the wardrobe. And as I put on everything, I began to, you know, breathe like that character. At the end of the day, I was like, I am now ready to let this guy go. And it was such a relief. I said, I do not want to carry any of this energy back to my home, back to my family. And I left and put him away in the closet in the trailer when I would get undressed and get back into my regular clothes.
GROSS: Were you afraid that he was a dark side of you, and you didn't want to live in that part of you? Like, what was it that you had to put away and make sure - was it just because he was a bad - you know, an evil character, or did you feel this personal connection that you wanted to put away, too?
MACLACHLAN: Terry, I definitely felt a connection there because - I mean, I think that has to exist when you're working as an actor. You really are - you know, we carry around a lot of selves, each of us. And...
GROSS: But also, did you feel like Lynch saw something dark in you that you had not been - that you'd been trying to keep a distance from?
MACLACHLAN: I think so. Yeah, I think so. I think - you know, when we did that, we'd known each other for 30 years, you know, so he had seen behavior from me. And I'm pretty good at hiding that, but he'd seen it, you know, as a good friend would. And, you know, David has always said to me, he really believed I could do anything, which, as an actor, that's incredibly empowering, because I often don't think I can do - as I didn't think I could do Mr. C. This is the character. I was like, oh, boy, OK, I've never had to do something like this. And it's not that I don't think I can't. think I can. But I'm going to need you know, help, you know. And David was there for that and for me. But I had to go in there myself. So that's opening up things inside of me and behavior. And that was both frightening and very high intensity but also kind of alluring.
The rest of the time, you know, thinking about "Blue Velvet" and - particularly "Blue Velvet" and the first "Twin Peaks," and I talk about David - you know, he creates these incredible worlds, incredible environments and slightly separate realities. And I recognized pretty early on, particularly in "Blue Velvet," that I was tasked with the job of going into these worlds, maintaining an innocence, which got singed, let's say, in "Blue Velvet," until I came back out again. But ultimately, I was the audience's guide into a very scary place and dealing with a scary situation and an extremely scary person and - Frank Booth, played so brilliantly by Dennis Hopper. And I understood that, and I saw that and I said, OK, this is - it's like, I'm sort of David's submersible.
(LAUGHTER)
MACLACHLAN: You know, it's not alter ego. It's not, you know - whatever. I feel like more - it's more of a submersible. So I'm tethered to the mothership, right? But then I'm now kind of on my own exploring this dark place.
GROSS: That's a great analogy. We need to take a short break here. So let me reintroduce you. My guest is Kyle MacLachlan. His new memoir is called "Fictional Selves." We'll be right back after a break. This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF BROTHERS OSBORNE SONG, "21 SUMMER")
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to my interview with Kyle MacLachlan. His new memoir is called "Fictional Selves." He became known for his starring roles in the David Lynch film "Blue Velvet" and Lynch's TV series "Twin Peaks." He's been in a lot more since then.
So you were 23, just a few months out of drama school, when you auditioned for your first movie, which was Lynch's adaptation of the 1965 Frank Herbert science fiction novel "Dune," which is set on a desert planet. The movie was released in 1984. You first read "Dune" when you were 14. You used to write quotes from "Dune" on the blackboard in high school. And one of the quotes that you put on the blackboard, it's a line, it's a paragraph (laughter)...
MACLACHLAN: Yeah.
GROSS: ...That you get to say at a key moment in the film adaptation of "Dune." And just to set the scene for that, you are being tested to see if you are that special person who can be an incredible hero or villain 'cause you have all this special power and bravery and tolerance for pain. So to test to see if you are that person, she is testing you for your pain threshold, and she says, put your hand in this box. And you're suffering, but you're not taking your hand out. So what was it like for you to actually...
MACLACHLAN: (Laughter).
GROSS: ...Inhabit the part with the quote that you put on the blackboard when you were in high school 'cause the novel meant so much to you?
MACLACHLAN: Isn't it just the strangest thing, Terry? I mean, there's no way I could have ever imagined the love that I had for this book when I was 14, 15 - the perfect age as a young man to read this heroic journey of a boy on the cusp of manhood who is unaware that he's been brought to this point through generations - like, thousands of generations - of breeding to culminate in this - basically a superbeing, not unlike Neo, I guess, in "The Matrix." The One, you know? And to have this - such a strong connection to that character to the point where it really sort of sustained me through those very difficult junior high years and high school years to, you know, get a call on my answering machine saying, there's a casting agent coming to Seattle, and they want to meet you for the role of Paul in "Dune."
And I thought for sure this was (laughter) a complete joke. You know, it's been 40 years or something - more years - and I don't think I have yet sort of figured out how. Maybe I don't think I'll ever figure out how that happened.
GROSS: So I want to read the full quote here. I'd rather you do it, but - do you want to do the whole thing?
MACLACHLAN: I don't know if I can remember it. I'm not going to get it exactly right.
GROSS: It starts with, I must not fear.
MACLACHLAN: I must not fear. Fear is the mind killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when my fear is gone, I will turn and see where it has - no, I don't have exactly - the last part's not exactly right, but you basically turn and see where the fear has gone. And, only I will remain is the last line.
GROSS: Now, I will point out that when you were in your teens, when you were a kid, you had a lot of fear and you were not a kind of very physical person. You got beaten up in school. You hated gym. The worst part was the locker room.
MACLACHLAN: (Laughter).
GROSS: (Laughter) And so...
MACLACHLAN: I can laugh now, but yes (laughter).
GROSS: So, you know, like, the character in this story is saying, I must not fear, and he conquers his fear, but you had a lot of fear as a kid and in your teens, and I'm not sure you conquered it. So was this, like, an aspirational identification with the character, that you wished you could conquer your fear?
MACLACHLAN: I absolutely think so, yeah. It's an - yeah - uncertain, insecure place. At least that was, you know, most of my, you know, grade school, junior high. And "Dune" was a lifeline to me. That character and that journey was a lifeline, honestly, and sustained me, for the most part, you know, through those years. I began to find another lifeline, preserver, whatever it is, floating in the ocean (laughter) that I grabbed onto, which was performing, acting. Started in late junior high, you know, eighth or ninth grade, and then carried over into high school.
GROSS: My guest is Kyle MacLachlan and his new memoir is called "Fictional Selves." We'll be right back. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF ANGELO BADALAMENTI'S "AUDREY'S DANCE")
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. Let's get back to my interview with actor Kyle MacLachlan. His new memoir is called "Fictional Selves." He became known for his starring roles in the David Lynch film "Blue Velvet" and Lynch's TV series "Twin Peaks." You may also know him from his roles in "Showgirls," "Sex And The City," "Desperate Housewives," "Portlandia," "Overcompensating" and "Fallout." When we left off, we were talking about MacLachlan's first film role in David Lynch's 1984 adaptation of "Dune."
So you had big expectations. You had a multipicture deal with Dino De Laurentiis...
MACLACHLAN: Yeah.
GROSS: ...With "Dune" being the first, several sequels and then other films as well. And then the film flopped, the deal was canceled and suddenly you were just floating. I mean, there was also a clause in your contract that there was a certain amount of time - two years - in which you wouldn't be allowed to be in any other movies. I guess they wanted, like, a fresh face. So, like, you not only - I mean, it wasn't even a question of not having auditions or not getting parts, you weren't allowed to. So you went to Europe instead...
(LAUGHTER)
GROSS: ...And, you know, had to figure out the next part of your life.
MACLACHLAN: Yeah.
GROSS: And that changed when David Lynch sent you the script for "Blue Velvet."
MACLACHLAN: David actually gave me "Blue Velvet" during the filming of "Dune." So we were actually shooting and he sent me the script that I found incredibly exciting. We were going to film that right after "Dune" was released. "Dune" was released and we were meant to go film that in January or February of that year. When "Dune" was - sadly, you know, was not well-received, everything, as you said, fell away.
GROSS: Oh, was "Blue Velvet" supposed to be part of that deal - one of the pictures that you'd make for Dino De Laurentiis?
MACLACHLAN: It was one of the non - yeah, what they call the non-"Dune"-option picture, which I had - in the first iteration of the contract I had one, and then they added a second, and ultimately did, indeed - would have been one of the non-"Dune"-option pictures that I was required to do for the company. But, gosh, it was like a street with tumbleweeds going down. You know, there was nothing going on. And there was no way for me to hedge. Let's say I'd finished filming "Dune" and then I was allowed to work. I could have used the potential, you know, of what "Dune" was going to be to maybe, you know, nail down a couple other leading-type roles in interesting films that I could have banked.
GROSS: So your mother sounds like a lovely person - interested in the arts, interested in drama, encouraging you to act, but also very cautious and very conservative when it came to pop culture. She did not approve - when you told her about "Blue Velvet," she did not want you to do the movie.
MACLACHLAN: Yeah.
GROSS: And she had cancer at the time and didn't live long enough to see the completed film. You almost turned down - you - actually, the first time, you did turn down "Blue Velvet." You told Lynch that you couldn't do it and you explained why, but eventually, you decided to do it. Can you describe what kind of dialogue was going on in your mind when part of you really wanted to please your mother, or at least, like, not hurt her, especially considering how sick she was, but at the same time wanting to pursue your aesthetic and personal relationship with David Lynch? What was the dialogue in your mind, the - or maybe the argument...
(LAUGHTER)
GROSS: ...In your mind about?
MACLACHLAN: Well, honestly, Terry, there was no argument. You know, I spoke to my stepfather at the time, and he said in a very gentle way that she was really upset by the script, you know? And my first mistake was giving (laughter) it to her to read in the first place, but I wanted her to be included, you know? And she read it and she didn't respond. He called me. She wouldn't have wanted to have stopped me. There was no question in my mind. It's like, well, then I'm not doing it. In this moment, at this place and time, this is not what I want her to have to think about and worry about me being in this movie.
And over the course of - oh, it was a few weeks anyway, maybe a month or so, a number of things were at play. One is there's no other film work at all. No one was interested in working with me. I was auditioning, but there was nothing that was there. And the greater part of that puzzle was the fact that I really liked the script. And I'd worked with David, and I loved David, and I knew David. And I said, you know, Mom, you can read in the script - as I say in the book, you know, she put his - her thing on his - you know, it's very, very descriptive. The script was very, very precise and descriptive, you know? And if you're reading that and you don't know...
GROSS: You're talking about the sexual scene?
MACLACHLAN: Yes, yes. And - as well as what happens with Frank and Dorothy, right? These are - my mom, she was very - this was not right, you know, in her mind. This is a territory you do not go into. And I was like, but I - it's going to be more than that. There's more happening and it's going to be OK. I just said, it's going to be OK. I trust David. He's going to make it OK. And she said, OK.
GROSS: Oh, she said, OK?
MACLACHLAN: Yeah. So I was like, OK, thank you. And I called David, and he said, Kyle, I never doubted you. And he must have trusted somehow that I would come around or I - you know, I don't know. I just - it worked out.
GROSS: Was it frightening acting opposite Dennis Hopper? Because he is so scary in that movie.
MACLACHLAN: Yes.
GROSS: He's so, like, out of control. And he inhales some kind of drug...
MACLACHLAN: Yeah.
GROSS: ...From a gas mask which makes him even more threatening.
MACLACHLAN: Yeah.
GROSS: And he's so believable in the role. I mean, he puts everything into it, and he's doing it right in your face in some scenes.
MACLACHLAN: (Laughter) Yes, he is.
GROSS: So what was - like, did you experience actual fear from him?
MACLACHLAN: Yes, I did. I did. It was so funny because Dennis was so charming, so lovely, so delightful, so soft-spoken, so much fun, you know, around the set and, you know, during filming, in the trailers and stuff, and the minute we were getting into the environment to shoot and he began to sort of descend into character, I didn't need to do anything. All I needed to do was stand there in the scene and react, basically, to what he was giving me because it was incredibly frightening and manipulative, and I was truly in shock. And then we would cut and he'd - you know, do that great, (imitating Dennis Hopper, laughing) got you on that. You know, the Hopper laugh, you know.
GROSS: (Laughter).
MACLACHLAN: And I was just like, oh, my God, Dennis, you were so frightening, and he said, (imitating Dennis Hopper) yeah, I know. He - and he - I think he really, really - he really loved the role. He really just - he played the heck out of that.
GROSS: In "Blue Velvet," you have a love scene with Isabella Rossellini in which she asks you, and then insists, that you hit her. And you don't want to hit her, but she basically is so insistent you actually hit her hard. What was going through your mind as you shot that scene?
MACLACHLAN: One of the great things about it was it's David and then there's Isabella and - we're just the three of us. You know, we're just rehearsing the scene, and maybe there's - the DP is nearby, but we're talking through it very matter-of-factly. So, you know, this happens and then this happens and this happens and this happens. And I remember just going, OK, how does - how do we get to the point where he actually does slap her? I'm like, I don't know how to get there, you know? And we came upon the idea, like, that she kind of initiates, actually, she does - she slaps me first, and then - and I, in a reaction, respond back like that. And then I see what it does to her. And cut to the next morning, and I'm in bed, and I'm like, who am I?
GROSS: You're weeping.
MACLACHLAN: Yeah. I recognize that I have descended into a place at this point. I don't know who I am. I know - I do not know what to do.
GROSS: When you were in acting school, you had trouble exposing emotion.
MACLACHLAN: Yeah. Oh, yes.
GROSS: And you didn't know if you'd ever be able to, like, cry on cue, which actors are often required to do. Was this the first time that you had to weep like that with - feeling that you'd violated your own self, your own principles in addition to, you know, harming Isabella Rossellini's character?
MACLACHLAN: Yes, it was. I think it was a different type of emotional response. But this was - yeah, this was one of the much deeper - and as you described, and I go into detail in the book, again, just about my struggle with this during acting school. And I just figured, you know, I'm going to be the comedian, I'm going to be the funny guy. I'm not going to be the emotional guy. It's not going to happen. Primarily because I recognize there's going to be a complete loss of control. And I said, no, I got to be in control here. That has been part of my acting journey all the way through, which is basically letting go of control, letting go of the reins as much as I can. But David gave me the time, and I came out of it, and I was like - there was, like, a weight had lifted. Not lifted. It had lessened. It's like, OK, you can do it. Took a lot. I don't know if you can do it again, but you did it.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is actor Kyle MacLachlan. His new memoir is called "Fictional Selves." We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF JULIAN LAGE'S "TELEGRAM")
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to my interview with actor Kyle MacLachlan. His new memoir is called "Fictional Selves." He became known for his starring roles in the David Lynch film "Blue Velvet" and in Lynch's TV series "Twin Peaks" and has since done a lot more.
When you were young - I think you were young then - your father changed careers, instead of doing what his father wanted him to do, which was be a lawyer. He was very unhappy as a lawyer. So he changed careers and went into finance. I think he became a stockbroker. Did that give you a sense of permission to pursue what you were really passionate about, which was acting, as opposed to doing something that had more security?
MACLACHLAN: Yeah. That was part of the deal. His father, my grandfather, wanted him to become a lawyer, which was of the time and place. And certainly the family history was his - my grandfather's - attempt to sort of have my father propel forward, you know, and never have to have the life that he had, which was very difficult, you know, traveling salesman, kind of difficult stuff. And my dad went to law school, and he passed the bar, and he started work in practice in Yakima.
He changed careers when I was 5 or 6 or 7, somewhere in there, very young and not really aware of what was happening. That change affected his relationship with his father, with my grandfather. And there was definitely some icing that went on there, and they didn't - you know, the story goes, they didn't speak for a couple of years when my dad did that, and then gradually, that thawed and everything was fine. But my dad was happy as a broker. He loved it. And I think from that experience, my dad never insisted that any - that me or my brothers pursue a certain career. There was conversation. There was, like, hey, what about, you know, this? But it was never like, you do this or we're disowning you kind of thing.
GROSS: Originally, you thought you might pursue opera. You starred in high school productions of musicals, including "My Fair Lady." Have you ever sung on screen?
MACLACHLAN: Well, I did the anthem for "Portlandia" (laughter).
GROSS: Oh, OK.
MACLACHLAN: I don't think that's what you're referring to, but - Terry. Have I ever sung on screen? I don't think I have. Not like, you know, proper singing, proper song. But, yeah, I studied with Gus Paglialunga at the University of Washington when I was there in school. Musical theater was really going to be my thing. And I classically trained and voice lessons and, you know, dance lessons and all that stuff. And then when movies popped in, I just - I made, like, a - I have say, I made, like, a right turn, dropped down to California instead of going across country to New York. But I haven't really ruled out the possibility. I've just - I've not really pursued it.
GROSS: You've had two relationships with people who you were acting with. One was with Laura Dern when you were in "Blue Velvet," and that relationship lasted a long time. You fell in love while your characters were falling in love on screen. And you and Lara Flynn Boyle fell in love when you were doing "Twin Peaks." You were both doing "Twin Peaks." So, especially with Laura Dern, how did chemistry on screen affect falling in love, and how did falling in love affect chemistry on screen?
MACLACHLAN: Well, Laura is just magical. She's one of our great actresses, and she's always been a great actress. Laura was so present. And the things that Jeffrey and Sandy were experiencing together, you know, Kyle and Laura were experiencing together as well. And, you know, there's your character life, screen life, and then there's your real life, you know? And these were definitely blending. And honestly, I don't think - you know, David didn't necessarily discourage it either. He said, you know, he recognized that this is actually something that is going to be good for the film. And he really loved the idea that Jeffrey and Sandy were going to be a couple. And that's a crazy thing about David. The worlds that he creates are real, you know, in his mind. They exist. So the fact that this was happening was very pleasing to him.
GROSS: David Lynch and Isabella Rossellini, one of the stars of the film, they had a relationship, too. So that must've been just, like, so unusual. And I think you were all staying...
MACLACHLAN: Yeah.
GROSS: I'm not sure about Isabella Rossellini. But at least three of you were at the same bed-and-breakfast.
MACLACHLAN: Yeah. So Isabella and Laura were at the same bed-and-breakfast. I had a separate place. But I was over at Laura's place all the time. And then David had a place out on the beach. He had a place out there. We were filming in Wilmington. And I don't - you know, I don't know. Everybody was pretty, you know, we were all pretty - I don't know if respectful is the word. But we were, you know - we were not running around, you know, making out in every corner of the set, you know?
GROSS: (Laughter).
MACLACHLAN: It was like we were, like, you know, trying to keep it, you know, pretty, you know, pretty on the lowdown, you know, low-key. But there was definitely a lot of love around on the set, which was kind of remarkable considering the tone was quite dark and intense. And I think what happens sometimes on films, at least in this case, the positivity, the love, the joy that was there kind of carried us through some of the darker scenes, darker moments, of which there were quite a few. But we all, we just - we were able to separate somehow, you know, who we were with who these characters were, you know, in I think a very healthy way.
GROSS: Actors are afraid of looking older, I think, because it's sometimes harder to get roles, especially for women. I think that for a lot of people, when they're young, their face is still kind of unformed. Their personality and life haven't written themselves on their faces yet. I think your face has gotten more interesting with age, and I'm wondering if you agree.
MACLACHLAN: Thank you, Terry. I agree. And it comes back to the theater tradition, you know, that you start as an ingenue, or a juvenile, you know? And you're playing the young roles. And you work your way through some of those roles, and then the middle roles, particularly Shakespeare, I think. And as you get older, then you're expected to do, you know, some of the other roles, the "King Lears," you know what I mean? These kind of things. The Iagos, you know? These kind of things where the - where a little bit of age helps, you know?
And granted, you know, I think men have an easier time with it, aging, over women. But I do feel like the face, I mean, it's really your tool, right? It's what you have to work with. Your emotion, face and your emotions. So everyone has to make those choices and everything. But I'm pretty happy with the way things are going. And, you know, I've got added inspiration because my son is 18. So I darn well better stay fit to keep up with him (laughter).
GROSS: Kyle MacLachlan, thank you so much for talking with us. I really appreciate it.
MACLACHLAN: Terry, this has just been a complete pleasure. I'm such a huge fan. Thank you for having me.
GROSS: Oh, thank you so much. Kyle MacLachlan's new memoir is called "Fictional Selves." After we take a short break, Maureen Corrigan will review Min Jin Lee's new novel. Maureen says it's an overwhelming reading experience. This is FRESH AIR.
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