Mulholland Drive star Naomi Watts has confirmed stories that suggested David Lynch was working on a new project before his sad passing.
David Lynch’s death at the beginning of this year dealt a blow to the countless fans of his work who prized the American filmmaker’s originality and imagination. Just a few days after he passed away, reports emerged claiming that Lynch – despite struggling with health complications after being diagnosed with emphysema – was actively working on new material, with Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos stating that the filmmaker was collaborating with the company on a new project.
Of course, missing out on a final feature film (or series) from Lynch to cap off such an incredible career means that there will likely always be some degree of fascination about what the filmmaker would have had in store for audiences. What we do know is that the project would likely have featured two of the director’s most memorable collaborators: Naomi Watts and Laura Dern.
Watts has been reflecting on her final meeting with Lynch (thanks Deadline) in November of last year and recalls just how creatively energised he was, despite the health complications he was dealing with. “We had a beautiful lunch at his house,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “I knew he’d been unwell but he was in great spirits. He wanted to go back to work – Laura and I were like, ‘You can do it! You could work from the trailer.’ He was not, in any way, done. I could see the creative spirit alive in him.’
Watts made her name in Lynch’s masterful 2001 LA noir, Mulholland Drive, and went on to feature alongside Dern in a couple of other projects for the filmmaker: 2006’s Inland Empire – Lynch’s final feature film – and Twin Peaks: The Return, his final long-form series.
“I thought I would see him in a couple of weeks [after that last lunch] because I was here in LA,” Watts added. “There’s a lot I could share but I want to be private about it because of his family. But it was a really powerful meeting that filled me with just so much love and hope.”
While nothing can ease the sadness at the loss of a filmmaking giant, it’s at least heartening to hear that Lynch was brimming with creative potential to the end. It’s both apt and inspiring that a filmmaker who bought us so many strange, enticing and enigmatic moments such as this one was still hatching more captivating stories, even with the mounting struggles he was facing. No hay banda, indeed. The world continues to miss you, Mr Lynch.
