One of the most iconic publicity photos from David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me shows Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) sitting on a bed in room 6 at the Red Diamond City Motel. I say it’s “iconic” because it was used extensively for the film’s key artwork in markets around the world.
LAURA PALMER AT THE RED DIAMOND CITY MOTEL – PHOTO SLIDE #2677
Photo slide #2677 shows Sheryl Lee dressed as Laura Palmer on a bed in Room 6 at the Red Diamond City Motel.
The image is a cropped shot from a photo of Teresa Banks walking into the room with Ronette Pulaski and Laura sitting on the bed.
The image was captured by the late on-set photographer Lorey Sebastian when filming occurred at the Mount Si Motel in North Bend, Washington.
According to the official shooting diary for Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me by Charlotte Fraisse from Dugpa, scenes at this location were shot on September 16, 1991:
“On the ‘Red Diamond Motel’ parking lot. David walks towards me, looking cheerful, rested and ready to go. For the first time, he kisses me. That’s nice, it makes me feel a little bit as part of the family. He is in a great mood and full of humor, joking with everybody on the set.”
Today, you can stay in Room 6 by booking a stay via AirBNB.com. They still have the wall that the crew distressed when filming took place.
LAURA PALMER’S RED DIAMOND CITY MOTEL IMAGE IN KEY ART
This particular image of Laura Palmer would be used on the main marketing for Lynch’s 1992 masterpiece. The North American poster by New Line Cinema shows Lorey Sebastian’s photo of Laura placed inside half of a broken heart necklace that’s on fire.
The heart image with Laura would be used in various print ads run in August and September 1992.
For marketing outside North America, Laura’s image without the burning heart were used such as this page from the German advertising guide for the prequel film.
When the film debuted at the Cannes Film Festival on May 16, 1992, the bed Laura was sitting on was removed and her image was placed over drapes from the Red Room with Special Agent Dale Cooper seen reaching out.
It’s incredible to see how this one image became such an important part of the film’s identity. Now it’s part of the ever growing publicity archive on Twin Peaks Blog.
Download this image and other Twin Peaks publicity photos from my Flickr account: https://www.flickr.com/photos/aloha75/albums/72177720325607231/
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