Naomi Watts mourns Mulholland Drive director David Lynch: ‘He put me on the map’

British actress Naomi Watts said “my heart is broken” following the death of her Mulholland Drive director David Lynch.

The US filmmaker, whose work included surrealist TV series Twin Peaks and films such as The Elephant Man and Blue Velvet, died on Thursday at the age of 78.

It came five months after Lynch revealed he had been diagnosed with emphysema, a chronic lung disease, after “many years of smoking”.

Mulholland Drive star Watts said Lynch “put me on the map” with her 2001 break-out film about the dark side of Hollywood, which earned him the award for best director at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival alongside an Oscar nod.

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“My heart is broken. My Buddy Dave… The world will not be the same without him,” Watts wrote on Instagram.

“His creative mentorship was truly powerful. He put me on the map. The world I’d been trying to break into for 10-plus years, flunking auditions left and right.

“Finally, I sat in front of a curious man, beaming with light, speaking words from another era, making me laugh and feel at ease.

“How did he even ‘see me’ when I was so well hidden, and I’d even lost sight of myself?!

“It wasn’t just his art that impacted me – his wisdom, humour, and love gave me a special sense of belief in myself I’d never accessed before.”

Watts said Lynch “seemed to live in an altered world, one that I feel beyond lucky to have been a small part of” as she revealed she was “in pieces” over his death.

“…David invited all to glimpse into that world through his exquisite storytelling, which elevated cinema and inspired generations of filmmakers across the globe.

“I just cannot believe that he’s gone. I’m in pieces but forever grateful for our friendship.”

She signed off the post as “buttercup”, adding: “Thank you for your everything.”

Two-time Oscar nominee Watts later featured in Lynch’s film Inland Empire as Suzie Rabbit, a role she played in his 2002 project Rabbits, as well as the revival of his hit series Twin Peaks, starring as Janey-E Jones in 2017.

Police star Sting, who starred in David Lynch’s Dune as the red-haired cruel antagonist Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen, wrote: “David was a modern giant of the avant garde. I am so proud to have worked with him on the first Dune movie.”

Original Twin Peaks star Lara Flynn Boyle, who played Donna Hayward in the early 1990s series, said “there goes the true Willy Wonka of filmmaking” in a statement.

“I feel like I got the golden ticket getting a chance to work with him. He will be greatly missed,” she added.

While Madchen Amick, who also starred in the series, said Lynch was her mentor, a dear friend, a masterful genius, “but more importantly, a simply wonderful guy”.

“He was my north star. He watched me grow up. He watched me become a mother. He cheered me on when I stepped into the director’s chair,” she wrote on Instagram, signing off the post as “your Madgekin”.

Kyle MacLachlan, who played lead star FBI agent Dale Cooper in the original Twin Peaks drama, said “I owe my entire career, and life really, to his vision” after Lynch originally cast him in 1984 sci-fi film Dune – based on the Frank Herbert novel.

“42 years ago, for reasons beyond my comprehension, David Lynch plucked me out of obscurity to star in his first and last big-budget movie. He clearly saw something in me that even I didn’t recognise,” he wrote on Instagram.

“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.

“…I will miss him more than the limits of my language can tell and my heart can bear. My world is that much fuller because I knew him and that much emptier now that he’s gone.”

MacLachlan, who also starred in Lynch’s 1986 film Blue Velvet which secured Lynch an Oscar nod for best director, said he will “remain forever changed” because of their friendship.

Nicolas Cage, who starred in the 1990 road trip film Wild At Heart which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, described Lynch as “one of the greatest artists of this or any time”.

“He was brave, brilliant, and a maverick with a joyful sense of humour,” he said in a statement.

“I never had more fun on a film set than working with David Lynch. He will always be solid gold.”

Lynch was known for the dreamlike, surreal quality of his work, epitomised in 1980 film The Elephant Man – which secured Lynch Oscar nods for best director and best writing.

Following three Oscar nominations, the Academy presented Lynch with the honorary award in 2019 for “fearlessly breaking boundaries in pursuit of his singular cinematic vision”.

Born in Missoula, Montana, Lynch began a career in painting before switching to making short films during the 1960s.

In 1977, he made his first feature-length film, Eraserhead, a black and white, surrealist body horror which follows Henry Spencer as he navigates a strange and gloomy industrial landscape filled with characters such as The Lady In The Radiator.

Major success came in the 1980s with the release of The Elephant Man, loosely based on the life of Joseph Merrick, a severely deformed man who lived in London in the late 19th century, and Blue Velvet, a neo-noir mystery thriller.

Blue Velvet launched Lynch into the mainstream but prompted controversy with its violent and sexual content.

However, Lynch achieved worldwide stardom with the release of Twin Peaks, co-created with Mark Frost, following an eccentric FBI agent who visits a quaint town to investigate the murder of a 17-year-old.

Lynch returned to develop and write Twin Peaks: The Return, released in 2017.

Other directing credits included being the first director to adapt Frank Herbert’s novel Dune in 1984, 1997’s Lost Highway, and 1999’s The Straight Story.

Lynch also made a foray into music, releasing three of his own studio albums, working with Yeah Yeah Yeahs singer Karen O and Swedish singer Lykke Li.

He also practised transcendental meditation, founding The David Lynch Foundation For Consciousness-Based Education And World Peace in 2005.

Wolverine star Hugh Jackman said the foundation “has been an inspiration to my life”.

“I will continue to help carry the torch as best I can,” he wrote on his Instagram story.

Lynch’s death, confirmed in a Facebook post by his family, came just days before his 79th birthday on January 20.#

“There’s a big hole in the world now that he’s no longer with us. But, as he would say, ‘keep your eye on the donut and not on the hole’,” his family wrote.

“It’s a beautiful day with golden sunshine and blue skies all the way.”

Beatles drummer Sir Ringo Starr was among those offering “peace and love to all his family”, sharing a picture hugging the late director on X.

While British filmmaker Edgar Wright described him as “a director of singular vision, defined by his magical style and fascinating ambiguities” as he shared an anecdote from a “glorious encounter” in 2011 alongside Oscar-winner Laura Dern.

Filmmaker Eli Roth wrote a lengthy tribute on Instagram to Lynch who he hailed as “a friend, a mentor, a brother, a guiding light for how to live as an artist and a human, there are few people I’ve ever had the good fortune to meet who have made more of an impact on my life”.

Referencing moments from Twin Peaks, and Lynch giving him his break into movies by making content for the director’s website, he added: “I could write a book about my time with David and perhaps one day I will, but for now I know he is in Heaven, where everything is fine. Or the red room drinking coffee and eating a donut.”