David Lynch reveals the smallest of details about the new series of Twin Peaks at a recent onstage talk

David Lynch continues to be one of the most enigmatic and unpredictable characters in pop culture, as his unexpected appearance on stage at the Television Critics Association press tour on Sunday proved. Appearing alongside cast members for the new series of Twin Peaks, including Laura Dern, Kyle MacLachlan, Madchen Amick and Robert Forster, the filmmaker answered questions on the eagerly awaited third season of the show but gave very little away.

When asked about Showtime president David Nevins’ comments that the new episodes will be the “pure heroin” version of Lynch’s original Twin Peaks series, the filmmaker replied mysteriously: “I hear heroin is a very popular drug,” reports Variety.

Lynch did let slip some more tangible information about the new series, however, saying that “the story of Laura Palmer’s last seven days is very, very important for [these new episodes].” This should be music to the ears of fans of Lynch’s Twin Peaks prequel, Fire Walk with Me.

Lynch was more forthcoming when discussing the original series. When asked what killed the show back in the 90s, Lynch suggested it was the reveal of the central whodunnit. “Who killed Laura Palmer was a question we really never wanted to answer,” said Lynch. “That Laura Palmer mystery was the goose that laid the golden eggs. We were told to wrap that up, and it didn’t get going on again after that.”

He was also keen to discuss his approach to filming the pilot episode that kicked off the cult show. “I saw it as a film, and we shot it the same way [as a film], and lo and behold, it clicked,” Lynch said of the classic first episode.

The cast members were similarly tight-lipped about the new Twin Peaks episodes, but were clearly loving the opportunity to play characters in Lynch’s world again.

“The opportunity of working with David every day is magical and hilarious,” said Lynch regular Laura Dern. “You’re seeing something you’ve never seen before.”

“A breath is a direction or a shrug,” the Inland Empire star added. “I didn’t know that language the first time [she worked with Lynch, on Blue Velvet], but nothing has changed, at the same time, since day one.”

Kyle MacLachlan, who plays special agent Dale Cooper in Twin Peaks and starred with Dern in Blue Velvet, seemed similarly delighted to be back working with Lynch. He described the shorthand he has with the filmmaker: “It’s a feeling more than anything else,” MacLachlan said. “I don’t really know why and I don’t have that with any other director I’ve worked with yet. I consider it to be special, and I’m so grateful to be able to have that actor-director relationship again.”

If Lynch is apprehensive about fan expectations, he certainly didn’t show it. “This word ‘expect’ is a magical word,” he said, “and people expect things, and their expectations are met hopefully when they see the thing.”

Twin Peaks airs on Showtime 21 May, and it can’t come soon enough.