Kyle MacLachlan penned a touching tribute to his “dear friend” and frequent collaborator David Lynch, the cerebral director who launched the Hollywood star’s career and continued working with him for years. Lynch’s family announced his death on Thursday at 78, about five months after the director announced he could only work remotely in the future due to emphysema. MacLachlan, 65, credited Lynch with giving him his big break when he cast him as Paul Atreides in his 1984 adaptation of Dune. “He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognize. I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision.” Lynch and MacLachlan continued to work together for years, with the actor playing the lead in Lynch’s iconic television show Twin Peaks, its 2017 sequel Twin Peaks: The Return, as well as his films Blue Velvet and Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me. “Our friendship blossomed on Blue Velvet and then Twin Peaks and I always found him to be the most authentically alive person I’d ever met,” MacLachlan said.
