David Lynch has shared his diagnosis of emphysema and says he’s now almost completely housebound. More on the story below.
Legendary film director David Lynch is the cover star of the latest issue of Sight & Sound. In the interview (picked up by The Independent), Lynch said the diagnosis is due to him smoking throughout the life. The director said he can’t leave his home due to fears of catching COVID, which could prove very severe with his diagnosis.
“I’ve gotten emphysema from smoking for so long and so I’m homebound whether I like it or not. It would be very bad for me to get sick, even with a cold,” the director told Sight & Sound.
Emphysema, along with chronic bronchitis, is a form of a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The disease causes severe shortness of breath as the tiny air sacs in your lungs rupture and create one big air pocket, which causes the air to get trapped. There’s no cure for the condition, but the progression of the disease can be slowed with treatment.
In the interview, Lynch didn’t completely rule out directing another film, but it seems unlikely. Lynch stated that he would still direct remotely “if it comes to it,” but noted that he “wouldn’t like that so much”. The filmmaker also said he can only walk short distances before he’s “out of oxygen”.
It was only a few months ago that we reported that Lynch was still working on finding funding for his animated film Snootworld. We’re hoping the filmmaker is still able to complete the project, but it’s unclear how his diagnosis would affect this. Lynch’s last feature film was 2006’s Inland Empire. Lynch also directed all episodes of 2017’s revival of his hit TV series Twin Peaks.
