Inland Empire

“Well, let’s start with Inland Empire. I rewatched it recently after David Lynch died. I was looking forward to meet him one day. What he said about one of my films is my happiest moment in my film career. He had seen Dogtooth, and he said in an interview that he thought it was really funny. And I’m trying to find the actual clip of the L. A. Times and frame it. If anyone has that, please send it to me.”

“And Inland Empire, which speaks to his radical reinvention of cinema. He wanted to use the crudest camera possible, so he grabbed a Sony camcorder and a couple hundred thousand dollars, and for three years we made this movie, at times just the two of us, with a camcorder, in Poland and France and LA, and it was one of the great gifts of my life. And thanks to you all, I also have the gift of so much behind-the-scenes and doc discoveries about David at work. That will be amazing to get to get to be back in those spaces with him, so I really thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I hope everyone will see his bravery in this and, of course, all his films.”

“One of my other idols of all time: David Lynch. My favorite of his is a little movie called Inland Empire. David Lynch is one of those directors who spent his career really focusing on one idea and trying to get at the heart of an idea, and I think he does it in this movie. And then also, at the end of the movie, which I won’t spoil, it’s a celebration of his whole body of work. It’s beautiful.”

“How about David Lynch, who made Inland Empire, because I do have a story about that. We’re very close with our friend Laura Dern, who, of course, famously has done so many David Lynch films. And she was doing this film and he needed someone for a scene and she goes, “Let me call Mary,” so she calls me and says, “Can you come do a part in this David Lynch movie?” I just said, “Sure.” I didn’t ask what it was. I didn’t see the script. I don’t know if I ever saw the script. So I drive out into the middle of nowhere, and it was… it was at a crack house. -An active… -Yeah, active. And it was this crazy place. And David had the camera and I had done a photo shoot that morning for something, and he goes, “You can’t look like that. You got to look worse.” And I said, “Should I just go and take all my makeup off?” And he goes, “No, let me do it.” And he gets down on the ground, picks up dirt, and starts rubbing it all over my face. And I just was laughing. And at one point I looked to a mirror and he, like, messed up my hair. I had a name like the Visitor. I was the Visitor. And that was how I ended up in Inland Empire.”