Kyle MacLachlan — an actor who frequently collaborated with David Lynch — shared a lengthy, heartfelt tribute to his friend on Instagram after the iconic filmmaker’s death at the age of 78 on Thursday.
MacLachlan, known for his roles in Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” and his 1986 film “Blue Velvet,” recalled the director plucking him from “obscurity” to star in his 1984 take on Frank Herbert’s “Dune.”
“He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision,” wrote the actor, who made his film debut with his portrayal of Paul Atreides, in the post’s caption.
“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.”
Maclachlan, who described Lynch as “the most authentically alive person” he’s ever met, wrote that the filmmaker 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,” he wrote of Lynch, whose name inspired a term to describe surreal, dreamlike characteristics.
“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.”
MacLachlan, who won a Golden Globe Award in 1991 for his work on “Twin Peaks” and would later reprise his role as special agent Dale Cooper in the 2017 revival, wrote that their shared love for each other “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,” wrote the actor, who went on to use a nickname Lynch gave him decades ago on the set of “Dune.”
“David, I remain forever changed, and forever your Kale. Thank you for everything.”
MacLachlan’s post featured pictures of the two smiling together in bow ties, on the set of “Blue Velvet” and enjoying glasses of wine.
Several other “Twin Peaks” actors paid tribute to the director on Thursday including Ray Wise, Russ Tamblyn, Mädchen Amick, Sherilyn Fenn, Joan Chen. and Naomi Watts.
Watts, who starred in Lynch’s 2001 thriller “Mulholland Drive,” credited the director for giving her a “special sense of belief in myself” she “never accessed before.”
“Every moment together felt charged with a presence I’ve rarely seen or known. Probably because, yes, he seemed to live in an altered world, one that I feel beyond lucky to have been a small part of,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
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“And David invited all to glimpse into that world through his exquisite storytelling, which elevated cinema and inspired generations of filmmakers across the globe.”