On Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025, Ray Wise returned to the North Bend Theatre for a second conversation with Real Twin Peaks 2025 event attendees. He followed “Cinema Unwrapped” which featured six Twin Peaks fans discussing the International or European version of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s pilot episode. Similar to the previous night’s activities. Mr. Wise was invited to leave impressions of his signature and handprints before spending more than an hour answer questions from the audience.
RAY WISE AT THE NORTH BEND THEATRE ON FEB. 22, 2025
The North Bend Theatre was home to several activities during Real Twin Peaks 2025, which included film screenings, a fan film festival and a concert by Wisteria Lodge. Ray Wise’s second appearance at the theatre began around 3:00 p.m. following “Cinema Unwrapped.”
Before Ray entered the theatre, a short montage of clips from his performances was shown to the packed theatre. The presentation started with Beach House’s “Wishes” video directed by Eric Wareheim and was quickly followed scenes from Twin Peaks, Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Psych and much more.
Entering the theatre, Ray was greeted with cheers and applause. He quickly welcomed everyone to the event.
“Well, welcome everyone,” Ray said, “I love this little town and I love all of you townsfolk and all you visitors from out of town. I thank you for being here today and I’m looking forward to answering some of your questions and telling you some stories, and try to entertain you a little bit. Make you laugh and make you cry [audience chuckled].”
The audience then cheered as Ray removed his royal blue jacket to ensure oil from the handprint ceremony did not get on his clothes. He responded by flashing his signature devilish grin.
Unlike the previous night, Ray signed his autograph sans oiled hands, spelling out his last name as the pen glided through the drying cement block.
Beth then added oil to his hands to prevent them from sticking in the cement while leaving his handprints. He remarked that his pinky finger on his right hand was a little crooked to which Beth remarked that she “loved loved the crooked finger.”
While Ray pressed his hands firmly in the cement, Beth survey the action saying that things were “looking really good.” While his hands were in the cement, the audience recorded a video greeting for Wise’s wife, Kass McClaskey.
After a beat, Ray “washed his hands” by having Beth pour soap and water over a silver pail.
The finished result is one of autographed two cement blocks Ray made during the event weekend. It will eventually join the recently installed Walk of Fame outside the main entrance to the North Bend Theatre installed in January 2024 by Aaron, Austin, and Jake from AJ’s Homes in North Bend.
With the handprint ceremony concluded, Ray took the stage for a conversation about his career.
CONVERSATION WITH RAY WISE ON FEB. 22, 2025
Mike McGraner first hosted a conversation with Ray Wise in July 2019 at Studio 35 in Columbus, Ohio. In the past six years, he’s served as Wise’s theatrical booking agent, facilitating screenings at small theatres across the United States of Wise’s films followed by a conversation with the actor.
On Friday night, Mike spent about 30 minutes discussing Ray’s acting career from 1968 to present. This time, he quickly opened the floor to questions after Ray recounted a story about unintentionally spoiling Twin Peaks in the mid-1990s.
Ray then told a story about how he learned of his part in Twin Peaks: The Return. David Lynch called Ray’s landline and left a voicemail to which Wise imitated during his story.
“So I called the office and spoke with David,” explained Wise. “He said, ‘We were going to go back to ‘Twin Peaks’ and of course, I want you to be in it. And we’ll get back to you later with the details.'”
Ray agreed to participate and was expecting some “wonderful details.”
“I know Leland was dead but that’s no problem with David Lynch,” Wise said laughing along with the audience. “You know, he’s going to figure out a great way for me to just be all through that third season.”
Wise had an idea that he could have played Leland’s twin brother Leonard who came to Twin Peaks to discover what really happened to his sibling. The entire audience was laughing hysterically by this time.
He soon realized that the show’s third season would not be like the original and that his part would be rather limited to just one scene in Part 2. Sitting in the Red Room, he tells Special Agent Dale Cooper to “Find Laura”
Mike then had Ray recreate the two words of dialogue by using an app that reverses speech. In the original series, Michael J. Anderson who played The Little Man From Another Place had perfected the art of backward speaking. By 2016 when the third season was being filmed, technology replaced the self-taught skill to which Mike and Ray demonstrated. He recorded Ray saying “Find Laura,” then he reversed it. Ray learned the lines reversed and said them in the the mobile device.
Mike then played the backward dialogue forward and the entire audience heard Ray say “Find Laura” in the disjointed backward speak.
DAVID LYNCH’S GREAT DIRECTION FOR RAY WISE
One of the first audience question asked was about David Lynch’s direction to Ray Wise – “Can you relay a story or two of a time when David Lynch gave you great direction that helped you within a certain scene?”
“I had to do this scene where I pick up my daughter’s graduation [sic] photo,” remembered Ray. “I was staring at it, starting to grieve, and then I dance around in a circle with it, building in intensity. My wife comes in and starts screaming at me to stop it. I don’t and she tries to grab the picture from me and I smash it on the coffee table.”
Wise goes on the explain that before they shot the scene David shared with him some direction.
“Ray, we’re going to play a record on the Victrola,” said David. “I want you to start the record player and put the needle halfway down on the record.”
Following Lynch’s direction, the music Wise heard was kind of a “slow, kind of unusual number” that put him in a trance. He shut off the record and started the scene. This unscripted moment was something David wanted on set to Wise into a certain “headspace” for his performance. The name of the song escaped Wise’s memory but he recalled it was a “slow moving dirge.”
Holding up his right hand, Wise explained the broken glass from Laura’s picture frame cut his hand.
He still has a scar from that moment but did not get a “bump” for that performance, answering an audience member’s question. This referred to a “stunt bump” or extra pay given to stunt performers for undertaking dangerous or difficult stunts, in addition to their regular daily or weekly pay.
When he asked what song was actually played during the scene, I shouted “Pennsylvania 6-5000” to which Ray misheard as “Transylvania 6-5000.” This lead to a story about how he’s longed to the definitive version of Dracula after he received a first edition of the novel when he was 10 years old. Wise explained how the book’s character description matched his own appearance including his “penetrating eyes.”
THE RED LION INN IN BELLEVUE, WA
At one point, Ray recalled staying at the Red Lion Inn during filming of Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. The former hotel was located in Bellevue, Washington was demolished in the late 2000s to make way for the 405. He then told a story about eating at a nearby pancake house during the Pilot filming with Richard Beymer.
While dining, Russ Tamblyn walked into the restaurant. Without missing a beat, Beymer and Tamblyn immediately started snapping fingers like their Jet characters from the film West Side Story. They supposedly had not seen each other in decades.
REMEMBERING TWIN PEAKS EPISODE 2.007
Another audience member asked a question about how Ray prepared for Twin Peaks episode 2.007 when Maddy was killed.
“Oh wow, that was a day!,” exclaimed Wise. He then shared he didn’t really punch Maddy as she sat on the couch. He only punched the couch but it looked like he was hitting her mercilessly.
Ray continued explaining how Maddy, played by the amazing Sheryl Lee, was killed three times the day of filming – once by Ben Horne (Richard Beymer), once by BOB (Frank Silva) and once by him. This was done to preserve who the identity of the actual killer.
RAY WISE REMEMBERS DAVID LYNCH
At one point, Wise offered heartfelt words about David Lynch following his passing in January 2025. He said there was a recent gathering at Lynch’s house with family and select Twin Peaks cast members. They enjoyed Mexican Coca-Cola, chocolate chip cookies and M&Ms, the later was something Lynch greatly enjoyed so there were bowls of the candy throughout the home.
He then remembered the photo of the four FBI Agents from Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me stating that Kyle MacLachlan is the only one still living in the shot. It was a sobering reminder of the passage of time.
PROP MASTER JEFF MOORE REUNITES WITH RAY WISE
Toward the end of the conversation, Twin Peaks prop master from season two, Jeff Moore, reunited with Wise for a special moment. The two hadn’t seen each other in decades since Moore worked on the show. He recalled David Lynch asking for a golf bag that could hold a human, which is the prop Wise’s character Leland used to hide Maddy’s body in episode 2.008.
Wise remembered wanting his character to hit Agent Cooper with a golf club during the scene where Leland is pulled over by Sheriff Truman for reckless driving.
Moore would soon share even more stories during a free panel about Twin Peaks props held at No Boat Brewing in Snoqualmie on Sunday, Feb. 23.
Ray is an ever-gracious showman whose storytelling skills made time pass so quickly. He ended the conversation talking about his surprise appearance during Leland’s Karaoke at the Loyal Order of the Moose Lodge in North Bend the night before. The audience was then treated to another a cappella performance of “Mairzy Doats,” Wise’s signature song performed by Leland Palmer in Twin Peaks episode 2.001.
After the conversation, Wise and McGraner posed on stage for a group shot of all attendees at the North Bend Theatre.
MEETING RAY WISE AT THE NORTH BEND THEATRE ON FEB. 22, 2025
Fans then lined up in the theatre’s right aisle to meet Ray Wise. People had the option to get a publicity photo for Wise to sign, take a photo for him or just say “Hello.” The former two were sold at a table adjacent to Ray’s table.
Attendees like Mike Zacek traveled from New York to attend the Real Twin Peaks event and meet Ray. He had a photograph signed by Ray.
It was then Ray’s turn to sign a few things starting with a Kyle MacLachlan standee which was decorated with a Salvador Dalí like mustache.
Ray also signed a small Walk of Fame star plaque that would be hung in the North Bend Theatre’s lobby.
The star plaque would be hung next to a framed poster from Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.
Finally, he signed a fan created Twin Peaks poster featuring his character’s appearance from the show’s second season.
Thank you to Beth, Kevin and Sam Burrows; Britni Larson and the entire North Bend Theatre staff for hosting such an engaging and fun conversation with Ray Wise. Special thank you to Mike McGraner who served as an outstanding facilitator and Steve Lange who assisted with the photograph and autograph tables..
