With the “Twin Peaks” countdown nearing its final hours, we still know almost nothing about what the revival of the eccentric ‘90s classic will entail. Neither does Naomi Watts, and she’s in the damn thing.
One of the many “Twin Peaks” rookies who will appear in the 18-episode limited series premiering Sunday on Showtime, Watts wasn’t sent a single script. She had to venture to co-creator David Lynch’s Los Angeles home to read her scenes. Even that was cagey: “If there were five or six lines said before I started speaking, they were crossed out ― blacked out completely,” Watts said Thursday during an interview for next month’s “The Book of Henry.”
Since she was cast more than a year ago, Watts has had a “difficult” time safeguarding whatever secrets she does know. This was “next-level” confidentiality, but Watts was happy to “protect” Lynch’s “level of privacy.” It’s not her first Lynchian rodeo, after all ― Watts’ breakout moment was the director’s neo-noir psychodrama “Mulholland Drive.”
The size of Watts’ role is unclear, especially considering how many other A-listers are joining the new season (Laura Dern, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jim Belushi, Michael Cera, Amanda Seyfried, Tim Roth, Ashley Judd, Ernie Hudson). Because Showtime did not release screeners for journalists and critics, all we know is that “Twin Peaks: The Return” picks up 25 years after the original series’ culmination, with Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle McLachlan) and other fixtures returning to deepen (and perhaps clarify?) the lingering mysteries surrounding Laura Palmer’s murder.
Shooting in small-town Washington and parts of Southern California ― “strange places,” in Watts’ words ― helped avoid paparazzi shots that sometimes leak spoilers from film and television sets. “And it’s part of the fun,” Watts said. “The not knowing makes it fun. And you trust David because he is who he is. He’s unique. You give yourself over. He’s done it so brilliantly time and time again, and you just enjoy his little magical world that he’s creating.”
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![Hollywood's bloated franchise obsession is <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/hollywood-sequels-will-they-ever-end_us_575813f8e4b00f97fba6b1e3" target="_blank">running thin</a>, but Disney's live-action reboots of its animated classics keep getting better. 2016 brought us "The Jungle Book" and "Pete's Dragon," two surprisingly meditative takes on orphan boys surviving in the wilderness with their animal pals. Netflix recently <a href="http://decider.com/2016/11/14/every-disney-movie-and-show-on-netflix/" target="_blank">signed a deal</a> to acquire Disney's new releases, so "The Jungle Book" has already hit the streaming service. Boot up <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-jungle-book-review_us_570eaac5e4b0ffa5937e0cae" target="_blank">Jon Favreau's majestic adventure</a> -- featuring the voice work of Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Scarlett Johansson and Christopher Walken -- for a beautifully rendered take on the bare necessities of life. [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcgJRQWxKnw" target="_blank">Trailer</a>]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/SXs0NxYhx7LUYs3rlsYcUQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/586944ea1500002f00e9de82.jpg)
![This deceptive chiller begins with a dinner party that reunites a group of friends at a nice home in the Hollywood Hills. It ends with a cultish quest for survival that comes to one of 2016's <a href="http://decider.com/2016/04/19/the-invitation-best-ending-of-2016/" target="_blank">most inventive culminations</a>. Directed by Karyn Kusama ("Girlfight," "Jennifer's Body"), "The Invitation" buries themes of grief and salvation in a story of menace and terror. [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-mp77SZ_0M" target="_blank">Trailer</a>]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/IG44tyx60wjwSnAUDZZRtA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/5869479f1900002b000e26cf.jpg)
!["Selma" director Ava DuVernay has crafted a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ava-duvernays-13th-explores-the-evolution-of-the-us-prison-system_us_57f7ddfee4b0e655eab3d99b" target="_blank">must-see polemic</a> that proves America is not as far removed from its slavery roots as we'd like to believe. Tracing a thin line between a loophole in the 13th Amendment that paved the way for segregation and mass incarceration, DuVernay profiles a dark facet of history via interviews with civil rights leaders, politicians and others who strip away partisan divides to show that everyone is responsible for the struggles plaguing modern race relations. [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V66F3WU2CKk" target="_blank">Trailer</a>]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/kt1LwPYK_nIezBR7XnndbA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/586947e21900002a000e26d1.jpg)
![In creating socially pointed sitcoms like "All in the Family," "The Jeffersons" and "Maude," Norman Lear redefined television. Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady have made an inspired documentary that explores the legend's life, from his childhood and World War II service to his pop-culture contributions and political activism. Along the way, you'll see remarkable footage from 1970s writers rooms, a fascinating exploration of race in prime-time entertainment and an ode to a voice that helped to reshape modern culture. [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsNod2_lZHY" target="_blank">Trailer</a>]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/zeW7q0VH2c_NBejdofwGDg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/586944ea1900002b000e26ca.jpg)
![Comparisons to "Kids" and "Spring Breakers" befit Elizabeth Wood's edgy drama about a privileged New York City undergrad (Morgan Saylor) who entertains herself by hanging around a jailbait drug dealer (Brian Marc). She develops a penchant for cocaine and easy sex. Her class status and good looks mean she rarely considers consequences, making "White Girl" a frenzy of youthful endurance. When her druggie pal is arrested, she goes to extremes to prevent him from spending decades behind bars. [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dzrDvaHGEA" target="_blank">Trailer</a>]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/DvHR.C.u7emZLrV4FbI5uA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/586949351500002300916b07.jpg)
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![Several years before he directed "The Silence of the Lambs" and "Philadelphia," Jonathan Demme made "Stop Making Sense," the acclaimed concert film about the Talking Heads. Years later, he gave Neil Young a similar treatment. In 2016, Demme made "Justin Timberlake + the Tennessee Kids," another enlivening look at a lucrative arena tour. Filmed on the closing night of Timberlake's 20/20 Experience roadshow, Demme spends just enough time with the singer and his band behind the scenes to make their onstage presence all the more seductive. He emphasizes the minutiae of a pop concert while highlighting the enveloping allure of Timberlake's theatrics. [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlT7UQm5pfY" target="_blank">Trailer</a>]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/fF447sYgyvb7HskKVUz9rg--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/586944ec1500002300916b05.jpg)
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![Coming to Netflix on Jan. 9, "Under the Shadow" is an Iranian horror movie that didn't earn enough attention when it popped through theaters last fall. Babak Anvari sheds a feminist light on the Middle East's female oppression in this tense thriller about a medical student whose daughter suspects an evil presence lurking through their apartment. As war explodes around them, the supernatural forces strengthen. But something even scarier occurs: Paranoia turns their every interaction into a walking nightmare, told through soft thrills and political tribulation. "Under the Shadow" has been <a href="It's been aptly compared to "The Babadook."" target="_blank">aptly compared</a> to 2014's "The Babadook." [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aq5Q5J3wLqI" target="_blank">Trailer</a>]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/DeSjWYxx9hJmxOKiE90SmQ--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/586947a11900002a000e26d0.jpg)
![Using glorious stop-motion animation, "The Little Prince" looks and feels like a poetic watercolor reverie. Mark Osborne's adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's classic novel defies the onslaught of Hollywood kids movies that end with tidy bows. Instead, this story of a young girl whose overbearing mother dictates her prep-school future blossoms as our protagonist meets an elderly aviator who regales her with fantastical tales of his past. "The Little Prince" becomes a narrative about the disconnect between a life of cold calculations and one of outsized adventures. [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEPqgSNLfK8" target="_blank">Trailer</a>]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/mhnMve8E.BFA_8g5wl17dA--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/586968281900002a000e26ee.jpg)
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![This one's on Hulu, not Netflix. But don't sleep on this underrated dramedy, whose <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/whiskey-tango-foxtrot-marketing_us_56d5e84be4b0bf0dab338ce6" target="_blank">misguided marketing campaign</a> did it no favors at the box office. "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" tells the true story of Kim Baker (Tina Fey), a low-rung television journalist who volunteers as a war correspondent in Afghanistan. The movie is far from perfect, but the trailers wanted you to think it was full of antics. Instead, it's a thoughtful romp about midlife restlessness that features Fey's best performance yet. [<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V8V6-VjnWw" target="_blank">Trailer</a>]](https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/p4FfOtkN9GHlrEFdU1kQBw--/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MA--/https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/58694a9e1900002a000e26d4.jpg)
