Lynch remains cryptic in surprise ‘Twin Peaks’ appearance

PASADENA, Calif. >> Even for 15 minutes, David Lynch stole the show.

Lynch, the filmmaker behind movies like “Mulholland Drive” and “Blue Velvet,” appeared at an event here on Jan. 9 to talk about the much-anticipated revival of his TV drama, “Twin Peaks.” The show will return, with a robust 18-hour season, in late May on Showtime.

Lynch — who has been tight-lipped when it comes to providing any meaningful details about the show — was not expected to speak at the event, held during a gathering of the Television Critics Association. But his surprise appearance left an impression on a weary press corps, even though he divulged little about “Twin Peaks,” which ran for two seasons on ABC in the early 1990s.

Here some of the more notable moments from Lynch’s almost poetic appearance:

ON HOW HE DIVIDES LABOR WITH SHOW CO-CREATOR MARK FROST

“Well, in the beginning, many years ago, we were, Mark and I, as if lost in the wilderness, as it always is in the beginning, and then we seemed to find some mountain, and we begin to climb, and when we rounded the mountain, we entered a deep forest, and going through the forest for a time, the trees began to thin. And when we came out of the woods, we discovered this small town called Twin Peaks.

“And we got to know many of the people in Twin Peaks, and the people who visited Twin Peaks, and we discovered a mystery, and within this mystery were many other mysteries. And we discovered a world, and within this world, there were other worlds, and that’s how it started, and that’s what brought us here today. This story continues.”

HIS FEELINGS ABOUT THE ORIGINAL “TWIN PEAKS”

“I’ll tell you what I loved, the pilot of ‘Twin Peaks.’ That, for me, set the tone, and made the world and the characters for me. That started the thing, and I felt really good about that mood and that story, those characters. Just fell in love, deep, deep love.”

WHY HE RESSURECTED THE SHOW

“I often thought about what might be happening. I often just remembered the beautiful world and the beautiful characters, so it was Mark who contacted me.

“It was many years ago now and asked if I wanted to go back into that world, and we met at Musso & Frank and talked, and that’s what got us going again for this one.”

WHETHER HE HAD ANY DOUBTS ABOUT BRINGING IT BACK

“Always, we’re filled with doubts.”

HOW FILMING IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WAS DIFFERENT 25 YEARS AGO

“Both the same and different. If you go back 25 years in any town and revisit it again, it’s that way. It’s many things remain the same. But also, you feel a change.”

WHETHER “TWIN PEAKS” PUSHED THE BOUNDARIES OF TV

“No, no, no. I was just on the pilot, I saw it as a film, and I shot it the same way. But it happened to be with these characters in this town with this mood with these sounds, with Angelo Badalamenti’s music.

“And lo and behold, it clicked, but I didn’t really know about television. And I didn’t. We just were telling the story.”

WHETHER HE UNDERSTANDS HOW BIG AN APPETITE THERE IS FOR A NEW SEASON

“I’m too in the middle, and I don’t go out much.”

ON WHETHER THERE WILL BE MORE “TWIN PEAKS”

“Well, before I said I wasn’t going to revisit it, and I did. You never say no. But right now there’s no plans for anything more.”

ON THE CAST

“It’s pretty amazing how we all fell back in together. And it’s a family. I’m sure you all hear this, stories.

“People say: ‘Oh, we’re like a family going down the road. All these actors are so wonderful. The crew is so great.’ But the crew in “Twin Peaks” was even more wonderful than those others. And the cast was even greater than, even more wonderful.”

WHY LAURA DERN WAS ADDED TO THE CAST

“I love Laura Dern.”

WHY THE ORIGINAL “TWIN PEAKS” GOT CANCELED DURING ITS SECOND SEASON

“What killed ‘Twin Peaks’ originally, who killed Laura Palmer was a question that we did not ever really want to answer, and that Laura Palmer mystery was, like I said, the goose that laid these little golden eggs. And then at a certain point, we were told we needed to wrap that up and it never really got going again after that.”

WHETHER THE 1992 FILM “FIRE WALK WITH ME” IS IMPORTANT TO THE NEW SEASON

“Very much important for this.”

WHAT FANS SHOULD EXPECT STYLISTICALLY THIS SEASON

“First, it was just the same as all the others. I see it as a film, and film in parts is what people would experience, and it was a joyful, fantastic trip with this great crew and great cast, and this word ‘expect’ is a magical word, and people expect things, and their expectations are met, hopefully, when they see the thing.

FINAL WORDS

Thank you all very, very much, and I hope you enjoy ‘Twin Peaks.’ Thanks a million.