Love Letter to Owain Rhys Davies, Agent Wilson from Twin Peaks: The Return

Mark Frost and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return was such an incredible gift. Not only did we get to return to the wonderful and strange town they cerated but we were introduced to many new characters portrayed by outstanding actors. One such individual was Owain Rhys Davis who played F.B.I. Agent Wilson in Parts 14, 15 and 16. The award wining, Cardiff-born actor starred in a number of theatrical productions in London’s West End and in other television shows and feature films. Sadly, Owain passed suddenly on Wednesday, May 27, 2026, shocking many who loved and cared for him. This love letter is a tribute to a wonderful human, gone from this world too soon.

LOVE LETTER TO OWAIN RHYS DAVIES

Owain Rhys Davies was born on February 20 in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom and was raised in St Clears in Carmarthenshire. As a stage actor Owain worked at The Royal National Theatre, London’s West End with credits including Olivier Award nominated and winning productions such as Mamma Mia!, The Wizard of Oz, By Jeeves, as well as  A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at The Royal National Theatre. He also worked in productions around the world such as Disney’s  The Lion King; Something Rotten; Imagine This, Grease; The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe; Under Milk Wood, and the multi-nominated, UMPO Summer Blockbuster for which Owain also directed.

In addition to Twin Peaks: The Return, his other Television and film credits include Alice Through The Looking Glass (DISNEY), The Indian Doctor (BBC/HULU), My Dead Ex (Awesomeness TV/HULU) The OA (Netflix), The Round House Family (BBC), The Relationtrip (HULU) and the critically acclaimed feature film A Serial Killers Guide To Life (Amazon Prime).

Being cast by David Lynch for the role of F.B.I Agent Wilson left quite an impression of Owain. He posted a behind-the-scenes photo with Lynch on his Instagram account on September 4, 2017 with the following caption: “What a wondrously beautiful thrill ride it was working with this legend. Being welcomed in by the Twin Peaks family of cast and crew was truly an honour and can’t thank them enough for allowing me to be apart of this cinematic masterpiece. If you ever need to call on me you know what to do….WILSON!!!!”

According to a May 10, 2016 article on WelcomeToTwinPeaks.com, Owain met casting director Johanna Ray for lunch where she took Polaroid photos of him. Months passed before he heard an update about the meeting.

“My agent called me while I was driving,” explained Rhys Davies. “I had auditioned seven months before, so I already assumed I didn’t get the part. I had to pull over and I just screamed. Everyone around me looked at me in shock. It was a memorable day.”

Owain said it was a fast turn-around once he got the news.

“I got the call on Monday. I was in for a costume fitting on Wednesday and on the set by Friday,” he continued.

Based on that timeline, Owain’s first scenes filmed for Twin Peaks: The Return were most likely on Friday, January 29, 2016 outside the Jones’ home.

His other scenes with Agent Randall Headley (Jay R. Ferguson) were filmed on February 3, 2016.

Owain spoke with Nathan Bevan from Wales Online in May 2017 about his part in Twin Peaks. He was naturally unable to share much details about his role due to the secrecy around the show before its debut.

“I’ve been living with all these secrets for months now – I wasn’t even able to tell my family I’d got the job for ages,” Rhys Davies explained. “And I still can’t reveal anything about who I play or what happens to my character.”

Owain admitted to not realizing he’d even auditioned for a coveted part in Lynch and Frost’s show.

“When news got out that David Lynch was going to do another Twin Peak series, every single unnamed film project in LA automatically got associated with it,” continued Owain. “Actors from all over were going to castings with the suspicion that maybe – just maybe – this could be the big one… Twin Peaks series three. As a result there were a lot of very disappointed people around when the news was finally confirmed at the start of this year.”

He echoed the story about nearly crashing his car upon hearing he was cast in the show’s third season.

“Me? I nearly crashed my car when my agent phoned me, I was so happy – but because I still couldn’t tell anyone, not even my own family, I had no one to share the moment with. What made it doubly tough was that my dad and brother were massive fans of the original show.”

The Welsh actor was too young to see Twin Peaks when it first aired in the early 1990s. But a friend from the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts lent him every episode on VHS cassette.

“I was completely hooked – it was like nothing I’d ever seen before, or since,” Owain recalled. “And when I found out I’d got a part in the revival I binge-watched it all again. I don’t think I left the house for three weeks straight.”

“You wouldn’t believe what the first day on set was like, nerve-wracking isn’t the word,” he remembered about his first day on set. “But, because David’s had the same crew around him since the early 1990s and knows exactly what he wants and how to get it, there was a very relaxed feel to everything. I found him very kind and considerate – he just walked over to me on day one and spoke to me like we’d been friends for years. We chatted about my character and how the scene was going to go and then we just delved into it. He felt like my safety net and all the nerves and panic just melted away. Quite a rare thing in this business of egos.”

Owain passed away suddenly on Wednesday, May 27, 2026 according to an Instagram post made by his brother Rhodri and father Conway.

“It is with profound sadness that my father and I share the news that my brother, Owain, passed away suddenly on Wednesday 27th May,” wrote brother Rhodri. “This news will come as a great shock to many. While there are still questions that remain unanswered regarding the circumstances of his death, our understanding at this stage is that Owain passed suddenly, naturally, and peacefully.”

While arrangements are still being made to honor Owain, I wanted to express my deepest condolences to all who knew and loved him. I never had an opportunity to meet him yet from all accounts, he seemed like a genuinely kind individual who loved what he did.

Here is a look at his character Agent Wilson in Parts 14-16 from Twin Peaks: The Return.