Cinema lost a great today. While the news of David Lynch’s passing seems still more unreal than anything the director has made, we mourn the loss along with the rest of the filmmakers and actors who had the privilege to exist during the Lynchian era. And we’re pouring out a cup of damn fine coffee for him.
Contemporary and fellow cinema titan of the modern era Steven Spielberg, shared a statement with Variety about the tremendous loss of his peer: “I loved David’s films. Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive, and Elephant Man defined him as a singular, visionary dreamer who directed films that felt handmade,” Spielberg remembered. “I got to know David when he played John Ford in The Fabelmans. Here was one of my heroes—David Lynch playing one of my heroes. It was surreal and seemed like a scene out of one of David’s own movies. The world is going to miss such an original and unique voice. His films have already stood the test of time and they always will.”
Longtime friend and collaborator Kyle MacLachlan paid tribute to Lynch on Instagram: “Forty-two years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big budget movie. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision.
What I saw in him was an enigmatic and intuitive man with a creative ocean bursting forth inside of him. He was in touch with something the rest of us wish we could get to.
Our friendship blossomed on Blue Velvet and then Twin Peaks and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I’d ever met.
David was in tune with the universe and his own imagination on a level that seemed to be the best version of human. He was not interested in answers because he understood that questions are the drive that make us who we are. They are our breath.
While the world has lost a remarkable artist, I’ve lost a dear friend who imagined a future for me and allowed me to travel in worlds I could never have conceived on my own.
I can see him now, standing up to greet me in his backyard, with a warm smile and big hug and that Great Plains honk of a voice. We’d talk coffee, the joy of the unexpected, the beauty of the world, and laugh.
His love for me and mine for him came out of the cosmic fate of two people who saw the best things about themselves in each other.
I will miss him more than the limits of my language can tell and my heart can bear. My world is that much fuller because I knew him and that much emptier now that he’s gone.
David, I remain forever changed, and forever your Kale. Thank you for everything.”
Actor Nicolas Cage shared to Deadline: “He was brave, brilliant, and a maverick with a joyful sense of humor,” Cage continued, “I never had more fun on a film set than working with David Lynch. He will always be solid gold.”
Like Kafka, like Bacon, he dedicated his life to opening a portal. He was the first to show me another world, a beautiful one of love and danger I sensed but had never seen outside sleep. Thank you David your gift will reverberate for the rest of my life. https://t.co/pK2GDycV1Y
#RIPDavidLynch, a gracious man and fearless artist who followed his heart & soul and proved that radical experimentation could yield unforgettable cinema. https://t.co/uMsAxrzKFx
The @remedygames internal code name for Alan Wake 2 was ”Big Fish”. I think David Lynch is swimming with the big fish now. Rest in peace. His influence goes far and wide and will live on. pic.twitter.com/cBlAG46TuS
David Lynch said that filmmaking should be fun & joyful. Of course it can be hard work. Of course the work itself can encompass all kinds of pain & painful truth. But the act of creation itself should be full of joy. I think about that all the time.
RIP David Lynch. You are immortal.
— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumail.bsky.social) January 16, 2025 at 10:40 AM
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