As part of the Real Twin Peaks 2024 event in Snoqualmie Valley, Washington, VIP ticket holders were treated to a surprise guest at the North Bend Theatre in North Bend, Washington. Kyle MacLachlan, who played Special Agent Dale Cooper, Dougie Jones, Richard, and Mr. C in David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks, spoke with attendees for nearly 40 minutes. The conversation was facilitated by long-time fan and local Snoqualmie resident Karl Reinsch. Kyle’s return to town was particularly timely as 35 years ago on February 21, 1989 cameras rolled for the first day of location shooting on the show that would become a cultural phenomenon. During the conversation, Kyle reminisced about his time with Twin Peaks, discussed his new podcast Varnamtown with investigative reporter Joshua Davis, wines that pair well with dessert from his Pursued By Bear winery and even gave his best David Lynch impersonation.
CONVERSATION WITH KYLE MACLACHLAN
SPECIAL GATHERING WITH A SPECIAL AGENT
Many VIP ticket holders from around the world gathered at the North Bend Theatre. This historic cinema was the location where David Lynch premiered Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me on August 16, 1992 as part of the first Twin Peaks Fan Fest. This conversation, along with the entire celebration of Real Twin Peaks, was organized by the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce and the North Bend Downtown Foundation. This was the first time Kyle had attended this kind of celebration in North Bend.
Just prior to this special gathering, several attendees were at the Welcome to Twin Peaks sign spot location on Reinig Road in Snoqualmie, Washington. There, Kyle drove by the location around 11:30 a.m. recreating his character Agent Cooper’s arrival into Twin Peaks.
Some of the first guests waiting to enter the North Bend Theatre. Notice the Blue Roses pinned to their lapels.
Britni Larson, North Bend Theatre Manager and President of the North Bend Downtown Foundation, holds a Blu-ray copy of David Lynch’s Dune.
A Special Agent Dale Cooper standee in the theatre lobby, complete with Kyle’s autograph.
Attendees gather inside the nearly 300-seat theatre waiting for the arrival of the Special Agent.
The lights soon dimmed and a short montage of Kyle’s acting work was shown with clips from Dune, Portlandia, Twin Peaks, and more. They also showed the short opening sketch from when Kyle hosted Saturday Night Live in September 1990.
KYLE MACLACHLAN ARRIVES
When Kyle entered the theatre, he was greeted by North Bend Theatre owner Beth Burrows.
The Blue Rose he is wearing is from Down To Earth Flowers and Gifts in Snoqualmie. They offered several roses for sale during the Real Twin Peaks event. What a nice touch!
Beth asked Kyle to make handprints in cement which will be placed at the North Bend Theatre on April 19. He then prepared his hands for the handprint ceremony.
He made handprints on two cement squares (one is a backup just in case).
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS WITH KYLE MACLACHLAN
After the handprint ceremony, Kyle joined Karl Reinsch on stage for the 38-minute conversation. Questions from the audience were submitted in advance.
Kyle shared how he’s always had an appreciation for Twin Peaks fans which prompted his visit to North Bend.
“I’ve always had a great appreciation for my fans,” said Kyle. “I think [the fans] had a great deal of the fact that Twin Peaks returned after 25 years of constant harping [laughs]. They initiated a movement for David [Lynch] and Mark [Frost] to get back together again and come up with a story.”
Inspired by a video of David Lynch from the 1992 premiere in the North Bend Theatre where he described the smell of the theatre. Karl asked Kyle the if he’d like to comment on the smell of the theatre.
“I’d be happy to comment because this is nostalgic for me,” continued Kyle. “I grew up in Yakima, Washington … and we had the Capitol Theatre. It had many lives … I went to see movies there and actually performed on stage there. But to walk into this beautifully maintained theatre and smell that popcorn was like magic to me. It took me back to my days at the Capitol Theatre going to see mostly Disney movies. It’s a great sense of nostalgia for me.”
Aside from David Lynch and Mark Frost, Kyle MacLachlan was the only actor who read the entire script for season three of Twin Peaks (The Return). Karl asked if the final show surprised Kyle.
“I did know most of the story,” explained Kyle. “But the last bits, David kept, so I didn’t know what the ending was. It was about a four or five hour sit down. Read the script … which was a steady going through and reading the script and recognizing what I needed to do. David explained to me that there were going to be three-plus characters that I was going to have to play. As I got into it, I was getting very nervous. Not so much about the Dougie character as I knew what that was going to be like. At least I wasn’t nervous reading the script. When I got in front of the camera, I got very nervous because so much stillness, so much not doing anything. I thought, ‘This is going to be the most boring thing anyone has ever seen.’ But in fact it turned out really well.”
Kyle also discussed his portrayal as Mr. C saying he “needed to be a presence, a bad presence.” He felt it turned out better than he could have imagined.
“I was very happy at the end of the day of filming to take that leather jacket off and return to me as he is a very unpleasant person and did very unpleasant things,” said MacLachlan.
Karl asked about the filming of the pilot episode and did Kyle think it was going to be a success.
“I think everyone involved with the filming of the pilot, on the set, everyone involved with the show felt [Twin Peaks] would never go past one episode,” answered MacLachlan. “This was going to be a pilot … that was going to be a movie of the week. It probably wouldn’t be shown until two o’clock in the morning [laughs].”
Kyle shared he had a great time filming as it was great to be back in Seattle. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1982 and the pilot was shot in 1989. He had some more money by then so he went to fancy restaurants and enjoy Seattle.
It was while he was filming “The Boyfriend School,” that words started to spread about the excitement for the pilot. He was signed after another agent saw the pilot in Los Angeles.
“There was a rumbling that something was good,” remarked Kyle.
MacLachlan was also asked about the filming of Dune and Atlantic Crossing. He remembered his excitement of working with Jürgen Prochnow whom he had seen in Das Boot.
Kyle also recalled the story of how he got David Lynch’s nickname for him which was from Dino De Laurentiis’ pronunciation of his name – “Kale.”
The audience was treated to an imitation of David Lynch whom Kyle called, “just about his best friend in the world and a wonderful, wonderful guy.”
Kyle and investigative reporter Joshua Davis recently launched a podcast called Varnamtown, about a small North Carolina city which got mixed up with Pablo Escobar’s drug operations. [Note – it’s a fascinating story so have a listen]
The audience learned cherry pie is not Kyle’s favorite pie due to the gelatin-like texture of the cherry filing. He remembers his father’s apple pie which was really great as it used apples from his backyard. Kyle also likes Key Lime, pecan but Huckleberry is “absolutely the best.” Strawberry Rhubarb pie is wonderful too but you have to have a cup of coffee with a slice. The audience also mentioned Shepherd’s Pie which he also enjoys.
Karl asked which Pursed by Bear wine he would pair with pie.
“I would go into more of a Rosé and I have a new white Chardonnay,” answered Kyle. “Washington state wines pair well with something sweet due to the climate in the state.”
Thank you to Kyle MacLachlan and Karl Reinsch for an entertaining and enlightening conversation. Thank you as well to the Snoqualmie Valley Chamber of Commerce, North Bend Downtown Foundation and North Bend Theatre for making this moment happen.
CONVERSATION WITH KYLE MACLACHLAN IMAGES ON FLICKR
You can find high-resolution images of the Conversation with Kyle MacLachlan on my Flickr account. The photos are licensed as Creative Commons, so only attribution to “Sam Howzit” is required for use elsewhere.
