Amanda Seyfried has reflected on her time working with director David Lynch onTwin Peaks: The Return. TheMamma Mia!actor joined the third and final season of the cult-favorite series in 2017 as Becky Burnett, an emotionally volatile young woman caught in the strange occurrences of the titular Washington town. The Showtime revival of the surrealist drama series marked a triumphant return for the auteur behindEraserhead,Blue Velvet, andMulholland Drive, and it continues to be one ofDavid Lynch’s most beloved works.
In a new video interview withGQ,Seyfried praised her experience filmingTwin Peaks: The Returnand Lynch’s joyful, open-hearted approach to directing. Following the director’s passing in January 2025, major Hollywood figures flooded the internet to commemorate the legendary filmmaker. Seyfried joins frequent collaborators like Naomi Watts, Kyle MacLachlan, Nicolas Cage, and Laura Dern in hailing Lynch’s profound approach to the peculiar and the impact of his unparalleled artistry. Check out Seyfried’s comments below:
David was not just a wacky savant. He wasn’t just unapologetic about his vision, unafraid to go into the darkness,he was also the nicest man. He was everything good and everything really, really, really warm and wonderful about Hollywood and filmmaking.
And working with him was just like, “What would you like, Sir? What can I do you for?” And he was joyful about giving you the direction. Even if you were doing it completely wrong,he was just very excited about where you were going to take this character.‘Cause he wrote it, he knew what he wanted, but he was also very excited to see how you would do it. It’s a full collaboration.
I wanted to give him everything he deserved. But when I did do something that really excited him, it excited me, too. Because then I kind of knew I did something that he was looking for… [I’m] just like I wanna please, I just wanna please, you know? I wanna please myself now. And I got to do both of that in “Twin Peaks,” because it was just so singular.
What Amanda Seyfriend’s Experience With David Lynch Means
Lynch’s Approach To Filmmaking Left An Indelible Mark On Her
Seyfried became a household name in 2004 thanks toMean Girls, before she went on to embody the iconic final girl inJennifer’s Body(2009), and showcased her vocal range inMamma Mia!(2008) andLes Misérables(2012). The actor’s portrayal of Elizabeth Holmes inThe Dropout(2022) earned her both a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress. Nonetheless,TwinPeaks' offered Seyfried an opportunity to dive into a uniquely challenging roleand experience firsthand the freedom that defined Lynch’s directorial style.
The actor joinedTwin Peaks: The Returnin 2017, just as Lynch returned to finish his surreal magnum opus after the mixed reception of the series' second season. In her first and only collaboration with the visionary director, Seyfried’s character, Becky, spirals into a gun-slinging frenzy upon discovering her drug-addicted husband’s affair. After four episodes,her storyline ended as puzzlingly as most of Lynch’s works, with the unsettling implication ofBecky’s death inTwin Peaks.
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Kyle MacLachlan, Lynch’s longtime collaborator who portrayedFBI Agent Cooper inTwin Peaksand Paul Atreides inDune, echoed many of Seyfried’s sentiments in an Instagram post following the director’s death (viaScreenRant). He shared that the two often “talked coffee, the joy of the unexpected, the beauty of the world, and laughed.“It’s clear that Lynch’s work was not just about his signature eccentricities, but aboutthe genuine enthusiasm behind his creative partnership.
Our Take On Seyfried’s Experience With Twin Peaks
A Tribute to Lynch And His Enduring Spirit
Seyfried’s tribute to Lynch echoes the deep warmth and creativity behind his filmmaking genius. While Lynch is widely celebrated for his unique vision, where the bizarre and the everyday merged into something entirely new in films likeLost HighwayandWild At Heart,the way he worked with actors was just as remarkable.Seyfried’s experience onTwin Peaksreveals the kind of open, trusting environment Lynch fostered—one where actors were encouraged to explore their roles and bring their own spirit into his cinematic universe.
