Julee Cruise as the Girl Singer in the ‘Twin Peaks’ Pilot

The world was first introduced to Julee Cruise when she performed as the “Girl Singer” in the pilot episode of David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks. As part of Julee in June on Twin Peaks Blog, here is a look at her brief but memorable performance at The Roadhouse.

JULEE CRUISE AS THE GIRL SINGER IN THE TWIN PEAKS PILOT

According to the end credits to the Twin Peaks pilot, Julee Cruise played the “Girl Singer.” This is also notated in Lynch and Frost’s script from Dec. 8, 1988.

By the time the pilot aired on April 8, Cruise’s freshman album, “Floating Into The Night” had been released roughly seven months earlier on Sept. 12, 1989. Her first single, “Rockin’ Back Inside My Heart,” had been on VH-1 in video format and on the radio. Critics were impressed with her unique ethereal voice which they had only known from Lynch’s Blue Velvet where she sang “Mysteries of Love.”

WHEN WAS JULEE CRUISE’S SCENES FILMED IN THE TWIN PEAKS PILOT?

According to production notes, Julee Cruise’s scenes were filmed around March 8, 1989 while the crew was in Washington state for location production.

The Roadhouse scenes were shot at a former gay bar in downtown Seattle called the Timberline. This spot, located at 2015 Boren Avenue, is now Raisbeck Performance Hall at the Cornish College of the Arts. An advertisement in Seattle Gay News on Mar. 17, 1989 had an image of stunt men rehearsing a scene at the bar for the “ABC Television movie NORTHWEST PASSAGE, directed by David Lynch and filmed on location at the Timberline.”

GIRL SINGER JULEE CRUISE PERFORMS AT THE ROADHOUSE

When we first see Julee Cruise, she is cast in shadow and performing “Falling,” the vocal version to the “Theme to Twin Peaks.” Interestingly, the script from Dec. 1989 doesn’t mention “Falling” but rather “The Nightingale” which Cruise performs later in the scene.

INT. ROADHOUSE – NIGHT
A warm but slightly seedy honky-tonk. A GIRL SINGER in black leather is up on the small stage, fronting a four-piece, avant-garde rock COMBO. She’s singing a song called, “The Nightingale.” 

In shadow, Julee sings, “Then I saw your smile” before the camera cuts to the bikers gathered to listen to the voice of love.

An exchange between Big Ed Hurley and Norma Jennings takes place while Cruise’s “Falling” plays in the background. The action then cuts back to Julee, now with her face fully illuminated, as she sings, “Falling, falling….

“…Are we falling in love?”

Cruise looks down after the verse concludes. So much emotion in such a brief scene. The scene then cuts to Agent Cooper and Sheriff Truman discussing traffic lights on their stakeout.

Since Cruise singing “Falling” isn’t in the script and she is only seen in close-up, I wonder if these shots were added later after filming had concluded at the Timberline.

After Mike and Bobby arrive, the action cuts to a wider view of Cruise backed by her band. Now she is performing “The Nightingale,” the song mentioned by name in the script.

During the song, the camera cuts to a close-up shot of Julee singing. This would be the final time we see her in the pilot.

Once the pilot aired, sales of Cruise’s “Floating Into The Night” picked up. Viewers couldn’t get enough of the dreamy music. Julee would return to the Roadhouse many months later in the David Lynch-directed episode 2.007.