John Malkovich Does David Lynch in Bizarre New Re-enactment Shorts
David Lynch hasn’t made a feature film since 2006’s head-trip Inland Empire, but he’s recently returned to the director’s chair to helm all 18 episodes of next year’s Showtime revival of his seminal TV series Twin Peaks. While that has fans salivating, it’s also apparently inspired at least one actor to revisit the prior work of the iconoclastic auteur — and in truly bizarre fashion.
Related: ‘David Lynch: The Art Life’: Film Review
As reported by Indiewire, the David Lynch Foundation has launched a new online series of videos called “Playing Lynch” (described as “A Collaborative Meditation on the Work of David Lynch”) in which John Malkovich re-enacts signature scenes from the director’s singular body of work. Proceeds from the download of each individual episode go to the director’s transcendental meditation-focused foundation, and the first vignette (watch it at playinglynch.com) features the actor as Twin Peaks’ Agent Dale Cooper, a role originated by Kyle MacLachlan. To say it’s strange and unsettling is an understatement, but of course, so is much of Lynch’s oeuvre, so really, that’s high praise.
Related: David Lynch, Harry Dean Stanton, Join John Carroll Lynch’s Drama ‘Lucky’
In the trailer for the entire series (helmed by photographer/director Sandro Miller; watch it above), it’s revealed that future installments — featuring new music by frequent Lynch collaborator Angelo Badalamenti, as well as The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and other artists — will find Malkovich traipsing through re-enactments of Lost Highway, The Elephant Man, Blue Velvet, and Eraserhead, as well as playing Lynch himself. Click over to visit the beautifully designed site for the out-there project; new episodes will be released each day for the next week.
Naomi Watts on working with David Lynch on ‘Mulholland Dr.’ and other great directors in her Yahoo Movies Role Recall:
