Real Twin Peaks 2026 – Local Color: Washington Onscreen

Western Washington state served as the backdrop for much of Mark Frost and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. They not only used many locations throughout Snoqualmie Valley but they hired many local actors from the region to play various on-screen roles. During the Real Twin Peaks 2026 event, Vinnie Guidera led a free panel discussion titled “Local Color: Washington Onscreen” on Friday, February 20 at Volition Brewing Co. in North Bend. For nearly an hour, he spoke with Eugean Thompson, Facilities Manager at Dirtfish Rally School which served as the location for the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department, and Heidi Walker, Washington Casting Director for the tail end of the Twin Peaks pilot, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me and Twin Peaks: The Return. They both share wonderful stories about bringing the show we all love to life.

LOCAL COLOR: WASHINGTON ONSCREEN

The “Local Color: Washington Onscreen” panel was held on Friday, February 20 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. at Volition Brewing Co. located at 112 W. North Bend Way in North Bend.  Andrea Hays, the actor who played Heidi in Twin Peaks was originally scheduled to appear alongside Eugean and Heidi but she was unable to join the conversation due to unforeseen circumstances.

Here is the entire 50-minute conversation between Eugean, Heidi and Vinnie which I posted on the Twin Peaks Blog YouTube channel (subscribe to the channel so you don’t miss out on other video recaps).

VOLITION BREWING CO. IN NORTH BEND, WASHINGTON

Before Volition Brewing Co. opened in 2019, this building served as the film location of Run Silent, Run Drapes in Twin Peaks: The Return. Scenes between Nadine Butler Hurley (Wendy Robie) and Dr. Jacoby / Dr. Amp (Russ Tamblyn) took place just out side the building. The brewery installed a replica gold shovel from Dr. Amp in their front window.

This was the first time a Real Twin Peaks panel was held at the brewery. In previous years, the location has hosted a Twin Peaks trivia contest and their annual pinball tournament (something that would again take place on Sunday, February 22).

For the Real Twin Peaks event, Volition reintroduced the Golden Shovel, a delicious British Golden Ale. It’s one of my favorite brews to have during the fan celebration of the small Snoqualmie Valley towns. Volition offers an ever-changing assortment, from refreshing low-ABV brews and hop-forward IPAs to experimental farmhouse ales and gluten-free options. Alongside their award-winning craft beers, they have a selection of refreshing non-alcoholic beverages too.  You can check out what’s on tap now on this page.

This year, the Volition team introduced a sticker for their Dr. Amp-inspired brew which was sold for $2.00 near the bar register. It was an instant purchase for me.

In addition to their fantastic beer, I love that Volition Brewing is dog-friendly. Many places throughout the Valley welcome lovable four-legged friends like Echo seen above who was hanging at the brewery. Such a lovable dog with the greatest face!

INSIGHTS FROM THE LOCAL COLOR PANEL

The 50-minute chat between Vinnie, Eugean and Heidi was fascinating and filled with some interesting tidbits. The trio was seated in front of a breathtaking 26-foot by 7-foot photo mural installed in February 2025.

The black and white image by Scott Rinckenberger Photography features Snoqualmie Pass backcountry, including Snow Lake, Chair Peak and Snoqualmie Mountain. The image is unique to the brewery and is extra special since co-owners Lucas and Jamie Haines have spent plenty of hours exploring the area pictured along the back wall.

Scott, whose art gallery is located down the street from Volition, published “Twin Peeks” during the Real Twin Peaks 2025 event. Captured over seven years from a second-story window overlooking the iconic Double R Diner (Twede’s Cafe), this black-and-white film series unveils the quirks, obsessions, and quiet mysteries of Twin Peaks fandom. See his other works online at ScottRinck.com.

Eugean moved to nearby Issaquah around 1974 and remembered watching Twin Peaks when it first aired.

“I knew a little bit about [the show] being filmed in the area,” explained Eugean. “If you lived in Issaquah, which was way back in the sticks back then, [the towns of North Bend and Snoqualmie] were way past the sticks. The only reason you came up to North Bend was to go to Snoqualmie Falls or stop at Ken’s Truck to get something to eat before you go over the mountain pass.”

Eugene has been at Dirtfish Rally School since they purchased the 315-acre property on June 1, 2010. He was responsible for transformation of the former Weyerhaeuser Sawmill Office into rally school headquarters. He also remains responsible for the overall safety of the grounds. While Dirtfish was under construction, he spent much of his time tracking down trespassers who hopped the fence or wondered onto the property looking for “Twin Peaks.”

Today, the Dirtfish Team welcomes Twin Peaks fans. You can visit the interior and exterior of the “Sheriff’s Department” and take photos. They kindly ask, however, that you do not pass the gate shown above for your safety. The area by the former sawmill is an active track with racing cars so the team doesn’t want you to get hit.

Mr. Thompson was also there when David Lynch and crew transformed the former sawmill office-turned-rally school back into the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department. You can see footage of Eugean speaking with David Lynch in Charles Lauzirika’s “A Very Lovely Dream: One Week in Twin Peaks” found on the Twin Peaks: From Z to A collection.

The behind-the-scenes footage is amazing, especially seeing Lynch talk about a sawmill as the duo surveys a stunning aerial image of the former Snoqualmie Falls Lumber Mill.

It took about a week to repaint the Dirtfish school and replace their sign with a created Sheriff’s Department sign. Inside, the crew added a wall to cover a space that houses a car showroom and merchandise shop.

Eugean was in awe of the giant light boxes hung over the exterior of the Sheriff’s Department when they filmed the Wally Brando scene. He said the scene took place late at night in very chilly temperatures. During filming, he had to regularly turn off the security alarms as people entered or exited the building.

For Heidi, this was the first time she had attended such an event. Vinnie discussed her work on the series and feature film.

Heidi explained she picked up some casting work toward the end of the Twin Peaks pilot. The main casting director for Seattle at the time was Susan (Susie) Dixon. She confirmed with Vinnie that she wasn’t responsible for any second unit casting done when the crew later returned to Washington state to capture some additional footage and other establishing shots used in the show.

She brought her script from “Northwest Passage,” the original name for what would become Twin Peaks. I had never seen this version which was dated with revisions on February 15, 1989 (blue pages) and February 17, 1989 (pink pages). This would have been just a few days before cameras rolled on February 21 in downtown North Bend.

The script still had characters like Dan Steadman, the original name for Sheriff Harry S. Truman, and Josie Packard’s character was an Italian woman named Giovanna Packard (almost played by Isabella Rossellini). I didn’t see many other differences but I didn’t have time to really review the script in detail.

Heidi would work again with Mr. Lynch and Ms. Dixon during filming of the 1992 feature film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me.

For Twin Peaks: The Return, Heidi served as Casting Director for Washington state. But she was faced with a challenge, she didn’t have a script. So she had people do all sorts of things, from dancing to making funny faces to telling stories. She would send those audition tapes to David for his review.

I could have listened to Heidi’s stories all afternoon – they were engaging, insightful and incredibly entertaining. She shared a story about David calling her after seeing an audition tape of someone stacking 29 pennies on his upper lip. Lynch’s call was brief as he said, “I can do 30,” and hung up.

My favorite part of her talk was when she pulled out all the Washington state actor headshots and asked the audience who the actors played in Twin Peaks. Heidi said Mark Fullerton was originally supposed to play The Farmer but got sick, so the role went to Ted Dowling instead.

Walker showed headshots for the following local actors:

• Laura Kenny – Woman in Car
• Mark Fullerton – Supposed to play the Farmer
• Eric Ray Anderson – Bartender at Elk’s Point #9 Bar in Part 14
• Lisa Coronado – Hit and Run Mom
• Jodee Thelen – Maggie the Twin Peaks Sheriff’s Department Dispatcher (who is now a high school counselor)
• Priya Niehaus – Sick girl
• Jeremy Lindholm – Mickey
• Johnny Ochsner – Bagboy
• Cynthia Lauren Tewes – Neighbor in Gersten Hayward’s apartment (and Julie from The Love Boat)
• John Paulsen – Trucker at Elk’s Point #9 Bar
• The Youngest Boy playing catch in Part 11 – Heidi couldn’t remember him
• Zoe McLane – Check-out Girl
• Tulip Hays – Heidi didn’t recall the actor (and I’ve been unable to locate a match though some thing it was the screaming kid in Part 15)
• Charity Parenzini – Carrie in Part 11, the mother of the boy Ralph who shot the gun and played by her son Elias Parenzini.
• Allen Galli – Man in Suit (the insurance agent from Part 1)
• Malachy Sreenan – Bosomy Woman
• Ted Dowling – The Farmer
• Ron Carrier – He was up for Marv Rosand’s part of Toad the cook at the Double R Diner. He passed in 2020.

Heidi did confirm that Johnny Ochsner and Zoe McLane were hired to play the bagboy and check-out girl respectively. This means there scenes would have been shot in Washington state, not Burbank, California. The crew had planned to use the Farmhouse Market in Fall City, Washington as Keri’s Handi-Mart from Twin Peaks Part 12. But the location was cut due to scenes being shot at Olallie State Park running late. I really wish this location would have been kept as it’s found down the street from the Roadhouse Restaurant and Inn and The Bookhouse.

A huge thank you to Heidi Walker and Eugean Thompson for joining this panel discussion. It was such a highlight to hear those behind-the-scenes stories from the creation of Twin Peaks. Thank you to Volition Brewing Co. for hosting and to my fellow Bookhouse Boy and Twin Peaks Blog author Vinnie for an entertaining and engaging session.