David Lynch opened up about his lifelong smoking habit and how even after being diagnosed with emphysema, it still took him two more years to finally quit.
The Mulholland Drive director and father-of-four told People, “I saw the writing on the wall,” following his emphysema diagnosis in 2020, “and it said, ‘You’re going to die in a week if you don’t stop,” but it was hard to kick his genuine “love” for smoking.
“I loved the smell of tobacco, the taste of tobacco. I loved lighting cigarettes. It was part of being a painter and a filmmaker for me,” he explained.
Lynch started smoking at the age of 8, and the habit became so important to him that it also became part of his film motif—many Lynch characters are smokers and it’s written into their iconography. The director said he doesn’t feel that he’s “glamorized” smoking with his work, however: “It was a part of life,” he said. “Some characters would be smokers, just like in real life.”
Yet still, the real life consequences of his habit led to his condition worsening to the point that he needs supplemental oxygen just to walk across a room.
“I could hardly move without gasping for air,” he said, so “Quitting was my only choice.”
Emphysema, which is chronic, is “tough” to live with Lynch told the magazine, “It’s like you’re walking around with a plastic bag around your head.”
It complicates his directing job, but Lynch doesn’t plan to stop working. He stated on X in August that he’d “never retire,” amidst reports that his condition meant he wouldn’t be directing any more. However, Lynch told the People he’d consider directing remotely, as his disease makes him more susceptible to respiratory illnesses.
Despite having to live with this chronic condition, the director said he has no regrets about his smoking habit. “I don’t regret it—it was important to me,” he told the outlet. However, “I wish what every addict wishes for: that what we love is good for us.” Ultimately, he said, “What you sow is what you reap” but “it was a big price to pay.”
“In the back of every smoker’s mind is the fact that it’s not healthy, so you’re literally playing with fire,” he explained. “It can bite you. I took a chance, and I got bit.”
