Lara Flynn Boyle putting paid to Cooper and Audrey romance?

[Agent Earle]

FWWM was a labor of love and while I can admire people like Sheryl Lee and James Marshall (who were also in demand at the time) for their dedication to appear in it, I can also understand that some of the others chose to move on to other things.

Yeah, I can also understand them. The problem is, some of them - whose non-appearance in the movie was a consequence of their own decision - are retrospectively trying to paint themselves as stellar bearers of the Twin Peaks torch while dissing fellow cast members for ruining it with their selfishness. And making cheap, passive-aggressive Twitter-ish jokes about a present attire in which fellow cast members do a TP promo event (of which the jokers weren't a part of). Not to mention playing the - totally unfounded - gender card as an explanation as to why they won't be a single most important protagonist of the new season. All the while wanting to be recognized as sweet, lovable, rational members of a "TP family" who'd do - and did - anything for the show.

[Gabriel]

I'm still a bit dumbfounded that Sherilyn Fenn didn't hit it big. She had the world at her fingertips and made some odd choices. She says she was too picky and wanted material with substance. She should be as big as Julia Roberts today, not sure what happened.

I hate to say it, but she had quite a limited range back then and she could border on whiny. In time, with experience and good directors, these things might have been overcome. What she had going for her in spades was 'presence,' which you either have or you don't. I have little doubt that, had Twin Peaks gone on for a few more years and regained its focus, that Miss Fenn could have gone places big time. But this industry is cruel that way: you grab your moment or you lose it. Sometimes, it'll pass you by and you won't know until years later.

Arguably, the most successful actress of the youngsters in Twin Peaks is Heather Graham and, similarly, she had presence but didn't have a great deal of range in those days either. But she subsequently worked with directors like Gus Van Sant and Paul Thomas Anderson, building up her skills and portfolio. Now she's one of those actresses whom people – while not necessarily able to put a finger on where they've seen her – recognise as a good character actress.

Sherilyn Fenn, meanwhile, did a mediocre Zalman King film – I actually quite like some of his films, more for the steamy atmosphere than the story or the sexy stuff – and the likes of Desire and Hell at Sunset Motel, which riffed on her Twin Peaks reputation or Three of Hearts (while Lara Flynn Boyle did Threesome!) As a result, she kind of faded away. I remember, when I was at film school in the late 1990s a couple of us discussed, over beers, actors and actresses we would want to see get a 'Quentin Tarantino Career Revival (TM)' and Sherilyn Fenn was definitely one of them. Empire Magazine ran a magazine anniversary article some years ago, looking at guesses they made which went nowhere. One of those was their cover featuring Lara Flynn Boyle, Mädchen Amick and Sherilyn Fenn, predicting they'd shortly be big stars. Which goes to show: you never really can predict anything!

[Audrey Horne]

Lara was part of the ensemble of The Practice in the late 90s, and received Emmy nominations. Before the advent of reality tv, it was a hot show (beating The Sopranos at the Emmys.) Sherilyn starred in Rude Awakens on Showtime for three years. Those are both pretty good for working careers -except when we compare it to things like Julia Roberts, where that is like .00005 of the industry.

*Won't get sucked into this thread, won't get sucked this thread.

[mine]

Those are both pretty good for working careers -except when we compare it to things like Julia Roberts, where that is like .00005 of the industry.

That's kind of the whole point as far as I'm concerned. The thing is you can pick any network tv drama and most sitcoms from the last 3-4 decades and find an analogous scenario for at least one actor.
I think overhyping the actors is part of promoting shows. Especially where there's an ensemble of young actors. For many that one show and a few projects past that is the pinnacle of their career.

[N. Needleman]

Yeah, Lara was very successful and a hot commodity in the late '90s and early 2000s. Sherilyn less so, but she had Rude Awakening for several years and some other stuff. They didn't utterly disappear like some others.

Further, Mädchen went on to have what is still a very active and notable TV career which has eclipsed both of them in terms of longevity. Sherilyn's come back a bit in the last couple years on some stuff on Showtime, but she's not where she could be.

[LostInTheMovies]

One of those was their cover featuring Lara Flynn Boyle, Mädchen Amick and Sherilyn Fenn, predicting they'd shortly be big stars. Which goes to show: you never really can predict anything!

I guess it's all relative, but as a teenager in the late nineties who had no clue what Twin Peaks was, I was certainly aware of Boyle as a celebrity in a way I wasn't of almost any other Twin Peaks alum (IIRC most of the discussion around her related to her dating the 60-year-old Jack Nicholson and also being alarmingly thin - yay, Hollywood!).

I'm also always surprised when people are iffy on recognizing Heather Graham. I assumed that by the time of the Austin Powers sequel she was widely considered a movie star. And yet she really didn't have many lead roles in major mainstream movies, did she?

[underthefan]

I always thought Sheryl Lee should have become a major A list star, but I guess the combination of FWWM's commercial failure and her seeming unwillingness to play the Hollywood game (which I can completely understand) may have put a stop to that.

[Gabriel]

I'm also always surprised when people are iffy on recognizing Heather Graham. I assumed that by the time of the Austin Powers sequel she was widely considered a movie star. And yet she really didn't have many lead roles in major mainstream movies, did she?

No, I always considered her more of a character actress. It's the old 'cab driver/actor/star' analogy. An actor pretends to be a cab driver; a star pretends a cab driver is them. Heather Graham is much more of a character actress – she portrays roles very well, but she disappears into them to the extent that the character is better remembered than who played the role!

[nonemoreblack]

Heather Graham's career doesn't surprise me. She's fine but she's better at comedic roles.

A lot of people on this forum don't seem to like Sherilyn Fenn. Of all the actors, I personally can't say I blame her too much since she was arguably the most screwed over by everything. She struck lightning by being a hit character on a hit show and having once-in-a-lifetime chemistry with Kyle MacLachlan. Then her whole plotline with him is killed, Audrey becomes one of the most irrelevant characters in Twin Peaks, the show is ruined, and then gets cancelled with everyone feeling bitter about it. All because other actors couldn't keep things professional, and the writers were a mess. I'm sorry, I love David Lynch, but I think it was fair for the actors to feel less-than-pleased about him essentially abandoning ship. Then you have all these other shows being made after Twin Peaks like Friends and The X-Files where relationships like Ross/Rachel and Mulder/Skully become major moments. That has to hurt.

Do I think it's ok for her to be petty on twitter? Certainly not, but I understand why this has been upsetting for her, especially since she loves Audrey Horne's character so much. Also, I get that people don't like LFB being turned into the villain, but I don't think we need to start making accusations about Fenn now just because she's not great at PR.

[Agent Earle]

Do I think it's ok for her to be petty on twitter? Certainly not, but I understand why this has been upsetting for her, especially since she loves Audrey Horne's character so much. Also, I get that people don't like LFB being turned into the villain, but I don't think we need to start making accusations about Fenn now just because she's not great at PR.

No one's accusing her of anything. It's all there in her statements (on Twitter and elsewhere) and general behavior, and not just the one from 25 years ago. Bitterness I can get, though I must say, shitting on Kimmy Robertson's appearance at a promo event or on MacLachlan for - can you imagine, he's only the main actor?! - getting too much time under the spotlight because time evidently hasn't healed her wounds really doesn't make her the one to continuously judge fellow cast member's doings from friggin' 25 years ago.

[Gabriel]

Heather Graham's career doesn't surprise me. She's fine but she's better at comedic roles.

Yeah, a bit like Alyson Hannigan, she has slightly exaggerated features, particularly the eyes, which make her facial expressions perfect in the slightly exaggerated world of comedy. A stunning looking girl in Twin Peaks and a stunning looking woman to this day (last thing I saw her in was Californication.)

A lot of people on this forum don't seem to like Sherilyn Fenn. Of all the actors, I personally can't say I blame her too much since she was arguably the most screwed over by everything. She struck lightning by being a hit character on a hit show and having once-in-a-lifetime chemistry with Kyle MacLachlan. Then her whole plotline with him is killed, Audrey becomes one of the most irrelevant characters in Twin Peaks, the show is ruined, and then gets cancelled with everyone feeling bitter about it.

Yeah, it was very unfortunate for her and for the show. I'd have wanted Audrey to end up joining the FBI.

All because other actors couldn't keep things professional, and the writers were a mess. I'm sorry, I love David Lynch, but I think it was fair for the actors to feel less-than-pleased about him essentially abandoning ship. Then you have all these other shows being made after Twin Peaks like Friends and The X-Files where relationships like Ross/Rachel and Mulder/Skully become major moments. That has to hurt.

Perhaps one of the big problems is having filmmakers creating a TV show – they can't always be focused on the day-to-day, meaning someone else has to do that. There was a show called Dark Angel created by James Cameron many years ago. Two seasons, two different show runners and a drastically different style for each season. This can happen if the creator isn't there full time, especially in the early years. Another example to cite would be Millennium. Chris Carter left the show in the hands of the Morgan/Wong team for one year when he oversaw The X-Files movie and the show got completely overhauled until it barely resembled the first season in any way shape or form. Then, the next year, following Carter's return, it moved back towards the style of season one. I found it very frustrating: I really liked season two, but it wasn't the show I'd signed up for in season one, which I adored. The change was too drastic. Season three was better, but alienated season one fans had already walked away and season two fans were similarly alienated.

Do I think it's ok for her to be petty on twitter? Certainly not, but I understand why this has been upsetting for her, especially since she loves Audrey Horne's character so much. Also, I get that people don't like LFB being turned into the villain, but I don't think we need to start making accusations about Fenn now just because she's not great at PR.

Yep! As the saying goes: if you have nothing nice to say, better to say nothing at all! I wish I could remember that more often!!

[LostInTheMovies]

Perhaps one of the big problems is having filmmakers creating a TV show – they can't always be focused on the day-to-day, meaning someone else has to do that.

I feel like this is really true temperamentally as well. Even after he didn't have Wild at Heart to distract him, Lynch just didn't seem up to or interested in the role of showrunner, just didn't suit his particularly hands-on style of creation. Whereas Frost, used to the collaborative format of Hill Street Blues, was ready to assume that role (and then of course, *he* kind of abandoned it to make his own first movie!!).

I think a lot of "what happened to Twin Peaks" can be boiled down to "it just isn't David Lynch's M.O. to manage a weekly series". That's why the approach to the new series makes so much sense: write it all beforehand and then treat it as one big long movie production - and if there are changes along the way he's the one to execute it personally.

Btw, don't know if it came up on these boards yet but there was a dumb thinkpiece comparing Twin Peaks unfavorably to the new show Legion (haven't seen it yet). Don't want to veer off-topic but I only bring it up because reading it made it clear how little most onlookers understand the dynamic of Twin Peaks. Even knowing Lynch will direct every episode, they keep conflating its production process with season 2 as if the situations are comparable.

[Gabriel]

I think a lot of "what happened to Twin Peaks" can be boiled down to "it just isn't David Lynch's M.O. to manage a weekly series". That's why the approach to the new series makes so much sense: write it all beforehand and then treat it as one big long movie production - and if there are changes along the way he's the one to execute it personally.

Agreed. Season three sounds much closer to his ideal where he wanted to direct every episode of the original TV show.

[Mr. Reindeer]

(For all his consistently stellar performance, I find it funny how Beymer stated he had trouble getting into the character at first, baguette anecdote and all... and also later? Yes sir, your character's defining trait in the central Laura Palmer narrative is indeed that he groomed a teenager into prostitution and sold her drugs and had sex with her? This is hardly news)

Heh. In rereading Brad's book, I just came across a Beymer quote on p. 144 that made me think of your post. In reference to the "Stuff of Which Dreams Are Made" cliffhanger, he says he wishes they'd "played with" that more, but he suspects the network was uncomfortable. So he refused to play Ben coercing a teenager with cocaine, but wishes he'd had more material where he's trying to have sex with his own teenage daughter?

Beymer comes across as rather eccentric in most of the quotes in the book (both his own quotes and people -- such as Laurie -- talking about him). Has anyone read his book Imposter? I'm rather tempted to hunt it down now.

[N. Needleman]

Both Beymer and Piper are eccentric.